Catching Sounds

Meta-Turf Club

2011-03-07T09:48:00.000-06:00

Turf Turf? Turf Club²? Meta-Turf? Call it what you will, seeing Romantica play their song "Turf Club" live at the Turf Club in St. Paul was a treat for those who stayed well after the clock had technically closed out Saturday evening.

The band was also joined for a tune by Carrie Rodriguez who has a duet album with Romantica's lead singer, Ben Kyle.

My 10 most listened to albums released in 2010

2011-01-03T22:39:00.000-06:00

I tend take a more qualitative approach to picking my 'top albums' of the year. Instead of presenting a subjective list of what I feel I liked best, I present below my list of most listened to albums released in 2010. It's pretty indicitive of what I liked most but does bias the list towards albums that came out earlier in 2010.

1. Dessa – A Badly Broken Code
2. Dosh – Tommy
3. Rogue Valley – Crater Lake
4. Dan and Matt Wilson – Minneapolis 2010 (*inflated due to intro tracks)
5. The National – High Violet
6. Yeasayer – Odd Blood
7. Mumford & Sons – Sigh No More
8. Storyhill – Shade Of The Trees
9. Guster – Easy Wonderful (Deluxe Edition)
10. Kaiser Cartel – Secret Transit

My 10 favorite concerts of 2010 - #1-5

2010-12-29T08:28:00.001-06:00

There were lots of great concerts in the Twin Cities in 2010. It was hard to narrow it down, but I eventually settled on ten favorites. Here are my top 5 of the shows I saw this year (see Monday's post for #6-10).

#5 - Dan & Matt Wilson @ Pantages Theater

#4 - Carolina Chocolate Drops @ MN Zoo

#3 - Mark Mallman's Marathon III @ Turf Club

#2 - The Avett Brothers @ First Avenue

#1 - Mumford & Sons @ Varsity Theater

My 10 favorite concerts of 2010 - #6-10

2010-12-26T23:47:00.003-06:00

There were lots of great concerts in the Twin Cities in 2010. It was hard to narrow it down, but I eventually settled on ten favorites. Here are #6-10, with #1-5 to come later this week.

#10 - Brad Kern Benefit @ First Avenue

#9 -Greg Brown @ MN Zoo (video by otherkind)

#8 -Broken Social Scene @ First Avenue (video by courtskeet17)

#7 - Shout Out Louds @ Varsity Theater

#6 - Mumford & Sons @ First Avenue

Dosh at the Cedar Cultural Center 12-17-2010

2010-12-22T11:48:00.002-06:00

Dosh played the Cedar Cultural Center last Friday evening. The room was kept very dark, so video was nearly impossible, but I did get one song of the first segment of the set with Dosh solo.

The setlist read:
Solo
    India
    Don't Wait
    Summertime Time

Dosh and Lewis
    Capture the Flag
    The Lost Take
    Subtractions

Dosh, Lewis, Ylvisaker, Broder
    Call the Kettle
    Bye Rhodsy
    If You Want To

Dosh, Lewis, Ylvisaker, Broder, Bates
    Airlift
    Pure Trash
    Caesar
-------------

The encore was an amazing edition of Gare de Lyon

Dosh - Don't Wait For The Needle To Drop (Dec. 17, 2010)

Romantica's "America" Vinyl Release

2010-12-15T07:56:00.000-06:00

Romantica, a Twin Cities favorite, recently released their 2007 album America on vinyl. To celebrate, they put on a show at the Cedar Cultural Center on December 13th. The show was originally scheduled for the 12th, but the band was got stranded in Chicago area due to the snow storm. Once safely back in town, they ran through America from top to bottom (with one exception), then went into a few of the tunes from their upcoming album (the one we've been waiting over a year for!).

One of my favorite things about the Cedar it how quiet the crowd can be for a really intimate song. That occurred multiple times during the evening. At one point Ben Kyle was on stage singing alone and the crowd was so silent you could hear chatter in the green room (with the door closed). The soundboard guy went in there and you could here him "shhhhh" the band members in the next room. Awesome!! The next song was more upbeat and the sound guy was dancing (spins and all) with a lady friend. He was a busy guy that evening.

Romantica - The National Side

Romantica - Fiona

Romantica - The Gulf of Mexico

Doomtree Blowout VI

2010-12-13T07:30:00.000-06:00

Here are some clips from the Doomtree Blowout VI show on Friday, Dec. 10, 2010 at First Avenue.

P.O.S - Let It Rattle

Dessa - Seamstress

Dessa - Dixon's Girl

Cecil Otter - A Rickety Bridge

Storyhill at the Varsity Theater 11/18/2010

2010-11-19T08:05:00.000-06:00

Storyhill, an old favorite, played two sets at the Varsity Theater on Thursday evening. A smaller than usual crowd was greeted by rows of chairs filling the floor - an unusual sight at the Varsity, but it worked well for the style of show. The lighting system at the Varsity provided the first time I had ever seen Storyhill with fog machines and beautiful lighting complimenting their weaving harmonies. The ending seemed abrupt and odd, but they ended up coming back for a quick unplugged encore of Give Up the Ghost after the Varsity shut everything down and turned up the lights and house music (they had a 2nd event later). Here are a couple videos from the second set.

Storyhill - Give Up the Ghost

Storyhill - Tremblin' Tracks

Dawes at First Avenue

2010-11-12T07:45:00.000-06:00

Dawes packed the Mainroom at First Avenue in Minneapolis, MN on Nov. 11th, 2010. During the show they said it was the largest crowd they'd played for to date and later at the Depot, Taylor said they had been looking forward to this show for a while. It was pretty clear they were aware of how far they have come in the last year. Their surplus of shows in the Twin Cities the last 12-months has definitely paid off with each crowd surpassing the last.

This set was a nice mix of tunes from "North Hills" and tunes from an upcoming (May '11?) album. Even if you are so/so on the album, these guys are the real deal live. Don't miss them!

Mumford and Sons at First Avenue Oct. 29, 2010

2010-11-01T21:31:00.000-05:00

Mumford and Sons put on another splendid show in Minneapolis on Friday night (Oct. 29th) at First Avenue. The crowd who bought up all the tickets within minutes of them going on-sale came prepared to sing along. If you missed the show, The Current is broadcasting the audio this Friday at 7pm Central.
They closed their encore with "The Cave".

Playlist From Oct. 18th Minnesota Mondays

2010-10-24T23:45:00.003-05:00

The playlist from my DJ set Oct. 18th at Grumpy's NE for Minnesota Mondays (all local tunes from 7-9PM and 1/2 price local beer from 5-9PM). Thanks to all who came out!

1. Adam Svec - 'Can't Wait For October' (Enemy Swimmer)

2. Kid Jonny Lang - 'Too Tired' (Smokin')

3. Eyedea & Abilities - 'Smile [Explicit]' (By The Throat [Explicit])

4. Ben Connelly - 'You Fell In The River' (The Great I Don't Know Why)

5. Semisonic - 'Sculpture Garden' (Pleasure)

6. Roma Di Luna - 'Mars' (Then The Morning Came)

7. Martin Devaney - 'Don't Wait' (West End Masters)

8. Rogue Valley - 'Encierro' (The Bookseller's House)

9. Joey Ryan & The Inks - 'You Are All Friends Of Mine' (Well, Here We Are Then)

10. Jeremy Messersmith - 'Wasting Time' (Silver City B-side)

11. The Delilahs - 'Wasting My Time' (Dying to Build a Bridge)

12. Bobby Llama - 'Blue Dog' (Bobby LLama)

13. Brad Senne - 'Butterfly Breeze' (Aerial Views)

14. Nightinghales - 'Don't Pretend' (No Looking Back)

15. Cloud Cult - 'Forces of the Unseen' (Cloud Cult - Light Chasers)

16. Greycoats - 'Goodbye, Sweet Youth, Goodbye' (Setting Fire to the Great Unknown)

17. Trip Shakespeare - 'The Slacks' (Across The Universe)

18. Haley Bonar - 'Arms of Harm' (Big Star)

19. Honeydogs - 'Your Blue Door' (Seen a Ghost)

20. Janey Winterbauer + Marc Perlman - 'Back To You' (25:32:47 - EP)

21. Accident Clearinghouse - 'H-E-L-L Bound' (By Blood and Marriage: The Tantalizing Untold True Tale)

22. Justin Roth - 'Shine' (Shine)

23. Kid Dakota - 'Winterkill' (The West is the Future)

24. Luke's Angels - 'Act 1: They Meet' (Luke's Angels)

25. Aby Wolf - 'What U Waitn 4' (Sweet Prudence)

26. No Bird Sing - 'Dream' (No Bird Sing)

27. The Replacements - 'I Will Dare' (Let It Be)

28. The Sextons - 'Full Of Holes' (The Sextons)

29. The Phones - 'Back In Time' (Changing Minds)

30. Dark Dark Dark - 'In Your Dreams' (Wild Go)

31. Two Harbors - 'What I Keep Inside' (All the Places We Would Rather Be)

32. Tina & the B-Side Movement - 'Young Americans' (Young Americans)

33. Stook - 'Lovesick Firecracker' (When the Needle Hits the Wax)

34. KRISTOFF KRANE - 'Best Friends. (Feat. Eyedea)' (Picking Flowers Next To RoadKill.)

35. The Tisdales - 'Petty Things' (Baker's Dozen)

36. Dessa - 'Matches to Paper Dolls' (A Badly Broken Code)

Sea Wolf (Solo) at the Turf Club

2010-09-28T08:25:00.000-05:00

Sea Wolf's Alex Brown Church did a solo set at the Turf Club in St. Paul on Monday evening. It was interesting to see the band's songs stripped down to just a solo guitar and vocals (that's interesting in a good way - not a MN 'nice' way). He said he wouldn't be back for a while as he's going to record a new album. Hopefully Sea Wolf (solo or band) will be back in town soon! Here are a couple videos from the show.

Winter Windows

The Garden That You Planted

Roma di Luna and Carolina Chocolate Drops @ MN Zoo

2010-08-30T07:53:00.000-05:00

The Roma di Luna and Carolina Chocolate Drops show at the Minnesota Zoo on Friday night was one of my top 3 shows of the year. Local band Roma di Luna opened and put on the best set I've seen from them. My dad came to the show with me and said, 'This is just the *opening* band? Wow, they're good!" TPT's MN Original recorded their set as part of a 1-hour special they are doing on the band. Can't wait to see that!

Just as fun as watching the bands was watching the handful of 2-4yr old kids dancing the night away down front. The old-time/folk/blues/hills music had the crowd moving more-so than any other show I saw at the zoo this year. Here's a clip of the Carolina Chocolate Drops doing "Salty Dog".

Mill City Live 2010

2010-05-28T08:08:00.000-05:00

Mill City Live 2010
The shows are in the outdoor courtyard of the museum from 6-8. Buying a ticket ($5) gets you admission to the museum from 4-9 as well. I went to couple of these shows last year and they were great.

July 8 - Spider John Koerner and Tony Glover
July 15 - Aby Wolf
July 22 - Joey Ryan and the Inks
July 29 - Salsa del Soul
Aug. 5 - The 757s
Aug. 12 - Idle Hands
Aug. 19 - Black Blondie

A Magical Evening with Mumford and Sons

2010-05-26T07:59:00.000-05:00

Mumford and Sons played the Varsity Theater May 25th to an insanely energetic crowd. The room was extremely hot and humid (reminiscent of the '09 Phoenix show) but that didn't stop people from enjoying the show once it got rolling.

Yeah, you have your super-fan packed crowds for the established/classic artists, but not usually for relatively new indie bands. I'm not sure I've personally ever seen a crowd so into every bit of the show. This was most evident with the couple of new tunes Mumford and Sons broke out. Normally with new songs a crowd will tunes out, chat, get drinks, etc. But at this show, even the new songs had the crowd going nuts.

The band in return seemed blown-away by the crowd's response. I think @MeredithWestin put it best: "Mumford and Sons seem genuinely surprised by how much the crowd at the @VarsityTheater love and it's fucking adorable." The band and crowd seemed to be in some euphoric infinite loop of love.

I tweeted with the word "magical" to describe it last night, and saw a couple others use that word too. I think that one word pretty well summed it up.

Not a complete video, but the last couple minutes of "Roll Away Your Stone" give a pretty good idea of the energy going down in the room most of the night:

Mumford and Sons - Wake My Soul:

Mumford and Sons - Dance Dance Dance (Neil Young Cover)

City Pages "Best of" Featuring Dessa and No Bird Sing

2010-05-24T08:12:00.000-05:00

The City Pages put on a concert May 22nd to celebrate their "Best of the Twin Cities 2010" edition. Dessa, the "Best female vocalist" headlined the show, and No Bird Sing opened. Both put on great sets.

Dessa - Mineshaft II

No Bird Sing - Devil Trombones

Storyhill "Acoustic Duo" show at the Guthrie 4-17-2010

2010-04-18T16:01:00.003-05:00

Storyhill put on a great show at the Guthrie in celebration of their new CD "Shade of the Trees". The Dan Wilson produced album is very minimalist - just two guitars, two voices, and lovely harmonies. The show was a nice mix of the new tunes with plenty of old favorites - Stillwater, If I Could, White Roses, Steady On, etc.

This was a trial run using a new HD camera. I'm pretty happy with the results. Watch in full-screen in 1080 HD!

Storyhill - Well of Sorrow (Guthrie 12-17-2010):

Storyhill - Steady On (Guthrie 12-17-2010):

P.O.S - "Purexed" at the Triple Rock

2010-04-14T07:33:00.000-05:00

P.O.S put on a few last minute free shows at small venues to tune up for his summer festival gigs. Here's a sample of the action from last night's show was at the Triple Rock Social Club in Minneapolis.

Dan and Matt Wilson at the Pantages

2010-03-27T15:10:00.002-05:00

Dan and Matt Wilson teamed up as a duo for the first time at the Pantages Theater in Minneapolis, Mar 26th. They played a number of tunes from current and past albums: Trip Shakespeare, Semisonic, Twilight Hours, solo careers, and a couple covers to boot. Their interactions with each other made for quite a humorous evening as well.

The whole show was amazing! A nice (I assume) recording of the show will be available through Dan's website or the Twilight Hours website sometime in the next week or so.

Setlist
Reception (Trip Shakespeare)
Never You Mind (Semisonic)
Hello Stranger (Dan) - aborted after two starts
Unlucky Lady (Trip Shakespeare)
Alone (Twilight Hours)
Landing (Matt)
Chemistry (Semisonic)
Anywhere (new Matt and Dan)
Made to Last (Semisonic) - cool rework of the old repeating keyboard riff
Drummer Like Me (Trip Shakespeare)
Free Life (Dan)
Travel Plans (Matt)
Lip Service (Elvis Costello cover)
Act Naturally (Semisonic)
Closing Time (Semisonic)
Hello Stranger (Dan)
Two Wheeler, Four Wheeler (Trip Shakespeare)
Turtledove (Trip Shakespeare)
Toolmaster of Brainerd (Trip Shakespeare)
---------
Hello Caller (Matt)
All Kinds (Dan)
Don't Worry Baby (Beach Boys cover)

Playlist From My DJ Debut

2010-03-23T05:02:00.004-05:00

The playlist from my DJ debut at Grumpy's NE for Minnesota Mondays. All local tunes from 7-9PM and 1/2 price local beer from 5-9PM! Thanks to Kyle at MoreCowbell.net for the opportunity - it was a blast!

1. Alva Star - 'Victorian' (Alligators in the Lobby)
2. Aaron & The Sea - 'Music? [With Mayda]' (Seconds And Shapes)
3. Jenny Dalton - 'Rusalka's Umbrella' (Rusalka's Umbrella)
4. Mark Mallman - 'Hardcore Romantics' (Best of 1998 - 2008)
5. Tapes 'n Tapes - 'Hang Them All' (Walk It Off)
6. Adam Svec - 'Voices On The Microphone' (Enemy Swimmer)
7. Matt Wilson - 'Blue Elektra' (Burnt, White And Blue)
8. Chris Koza - 'Scorpion Honey' (The Dark Delirious Morning)
9. Dosh - 'Subtractions' (Tommy)
10. Astronaut Wife - 'Cape Canaveral' (Now That 1999 Is Gone)
11. Black Blondie - 'For The Taste' (Do You Remember Who You Wanted To Be)
12. Brother Ali - 'Pedigree' (Live Current Vol. 3)
13. Heiruspecs - '5ves' (A Tiger Dancing)
14. The Pundits - 'Gold Approach' (Echo Chamber)
15. The Replacements - 'Unsatisfied' (Let It Be)
16. Mason Jennings - 'Blood Of Man' (Blood Of Man)
17. Caroline Smith And The Good Night Sleeps - 'Lack Of Height' (Backyard Tent Set)
18. The Hopefuls - 'Stacey' (Now Playing at the One-Seat Theatre)
19. The Rockford Mules - 'Redditch Redeye' (From Devils Spit To Angels Tears)
20. The New Standards - 'Hey Ya' (Rock and Roll)
21. Har Mar Superstar - 'Tall Boy' (Dark Touches)
22. Estate - 'Let Her Know' (The Vacation)
23. Grey Skies - 'Full Circle' (New Leaf)
24. The Humbugs - 'Employee Of The Month' (On The Up Side)
25. Ice Palace - 'Phonebook Pillow' (Wonder Subtly Crushing Us)
26. The Idle Hands - 'Queen Of Air And Darkness' (The Hearts We Broke On The Way To The Show)
27. The Evening Rig - 'Goddamn, I Could Use A Drink' (Is Doin' Stuff)
28. Johnny Clueless - 'Too Late, Too Loud' (Too Late, Too Loud)
29. The Mad Ripple - 'A Question For Pat Dwyer At Grumpy's In Northeast Minneapolis' (Sink And/Or Swim)
30. Romantica - 'Caroline' (Unreleased)
31. The Melismatics - 'Soul Sucker' (The Acid Test)
32. A Night in the Box - 'The Rich Man's Table' (Write A Letter)

The Twilight Hours - April 24th @ The Guthrie

2010-03-18T06:03:00.000-05:00

The Twilight Hours - April 24th @ The Guthrie
On-Sale: Friday, March 19 @ 11:00 AM

Storyhill's "Shade of the Trees" CD Release!

2010-03-17T00:28:00.012-05:00

"Dangerous Weapon" by Storyhill

Storyhill, one of my 3 favorite groups, is gearing up for release of their new album "Shade of the Trees". The album will be out April 20th on the local (MN) label: Red House Records. A release show will be held at the Guthrie on April 17th (tix on-sale Mar. 19).

I'm looking forward to hearing the new tunes! I do find it fairly humorous the show is being billed as an "Acoustic Duo Performance". As opposed to what...? :) When's the last time they played with full band? :) Last I recall seeing a full band myself were the 'breaking-up' shows in '97 (although I've missed plenty of shows since then).

Each time I hear 'White Roses' I still vividly picture Fawcett's drum sticks splintering into more and more pieces with each blast into the drum during the "I'm Looking Through You" portion...until the end when the band walked off for the 'last' time . Hands down the most memorable song performance of any show I've ever attended.

----------------
Now playing: Storyhill - White Roses/I'm Looking Through You [*]

The Melismatics - Digging Deep

2010-03-14T12:45:00.001-05:00

The Melismatics - Digging Deep.

Another local band I have often heard of, but somehow never really heard (live/album). Damn, I was missing out!! My friend Gia introduced me to Ryan a few weeks ago (super nice guy), so I checked out and bought their latest "The Acid Test" this week. Sweet stuff - being added to my workout playlist now!

RE: the video...I love Pony signing in the background picture frame and Ryan blasting the lamp off the table!

The Avett Brothers @ First Avenue

2010-03-06T12:27:00.005-06:00

Here are a few videos of The Avett Brothers playing to a sold out crowd at First Avenue in Minneapolis, March 5, 2010.

(Update: Check out some great photos from the evening at MeredithWestin.com)

The Avett Brothers - I and Love and You

The Avett Brothers - Go To Sleep

Romantica Silences The Cedar

2009-12-21T10:59:00.007-06:00

Romantica played The Cedar last night for their new EP release "Control Alt Country Delete". This new tune (I'm guessing at the name) should be on their next new album due out in Mar '10. The crowd went dead silent, listening intently, as song went on. It was really amazing!

Update 12/21: @TonyZaccardi the bass player for Romantica sent me this tweet. "Don't think it really has a name. It is about Gram Parsons & Emmylou Harris."

Update 3/14/2010: I've been informed this tune isn't going to be on the upcoming Romantica album (now expected ~June '10). Still a lot of great new tunes on that one though!