Here’s news!  We were tipped off to a Beatles tribute show happening this Friday night at The Fine Line Music Cafe featuring two bands that have in the past received the big Borang opposeable thumb up: The Arms Akimbo and Citizen Sage.  They’ll also be joined by Hunting Club.  So stop on in and here a mix of original local music and favorite tracks performed off your favorite Beatles records.  Show is 18+, begins at 8PM, and is $5 for 21+ or $8 for those ages 18-20.  Now, crank a couple tunes below.

No, Love – Citizen Sage

You Want To – The Arms Akimbo

posted July 21st, 2010 at 2:32 pm Concert Announcements Citizen Sage, Hunting Club, The Arms Akimbo

We just got tipped off to a show happening tomorrow (Monday) at the Triple Rock by Paper Tongues out of North Carolina.  These guys landed on our radar just this year, helped out by the placement of a tune during the Super Bowl and a lot of heavy national promo.  Their first single “Ride to California” is a funky little tune that draws to mind some of the softer (though no less edgy) sides of Rage Against the Machine.

Ok – alright, you got me, there were no softer sides to Rage, but I’m digging Paper Tongues no less.  These guys embrace pop sensibilities with a healthy dash of rock and hip hop, so go check out some more tunes on their myspace or website, and get your rear to the Triple Rock tomorrow.  Show is 18+, 8PM, tickets only $10!  They’ll be joined by Neon Trees and Me Talk Pretty.

“Ride to California” – Paper Tongues

Links

Paper Tongues – Website / Myspace

posted July 18th, 2010 at 11:28 am Concert Announcements Paper Tongues

The biggest challenge a local band faces here these days (besides a harsh climate, both literally and figuratively) is actually getting out of this proverbial midwestern island town and on tour. It usually takes many months (more likely years) of networking to be able to get decent touring gigs, as independent bands need to gain important contacts in the form of non-local clubs, promoters, or even just other bands in other places.

One of the most well-connected musicians in Minneapolis these days is Christy Hunt. Best known as the front-woman for decade-plus Minneapolis act Ouija Radio, she’s also in recent years joined Detroit’s The Von Bondies (best known for this song, which you do remember) and formed a new Minneapolis band called Pink Mink.

Christy and a large cast of Minneapolis musicians came together with a crew of Madisonian musicians a few years back to stage the first-ever Minne-Mad Festival, essentially a mass show-trade where bands from either city played big local shows in either location. It was most certainly a huge benefit to both cities’ music scenes to share a little bit of what the other had to offer, if only for one jam-packed weekend of music.

Now in 2010, an even more ambitious festival in the same vein has been born: the Minne-Motor Festival. Bands hailing from the Twin Cities and Detroit will be sharing bills with one another, beginning with 4 shows in Minneapolis July 24-26 and ending with at least one show in Detroit on the 31st. Madison returns to the fray as well, as they’ll be hosting an intermediary tour stop on the 30th and contributing to the festival lineup too.

Minneapolis’ flagship show in the festival is at The Hexagon Bar on July 24th, and features locals Pink Mink, The Guystorm, and Seated Heat (with members of Birthday Suits and more) alongside Detroit acts Silverghost (featuring original Von Bondies guitarist Marcie Bolen), Gardens, The Sugarcoats, and Marco Polio and The New Vaccines. Madison’s Screamin’ Cyn Cyn and The Pons will also perform at this FREE show, so you basically have no excuse not to be there. (Unless you’re under 21 of course. And if you are, hurry up and get older already!)

A huge swarm of bands will perform at the Chiang Banger Block Party and a secret after-show on July 25th. You’ll also have an opportunity to pick up the hot new single “Your Love is a Poison” by The Melismatics and see Detroit’s The Hounds Below (featuring Jason Stollsteimer from The Von Bondies; don’t you love all this awesome band crossover?) and more at the Kitty Cat Klub on July 26th.

For full details on all the shows happening as part of the festival, check out the event on Facebook, and plan on wearing your dancing/drinking/party shoes to whichever of these show(s) you plan on being at.

posted July 7th, 2010 at 9:24 am MN Rock

We’ve been quietly mentioning this for about a week now through a conspicuous little advert in our sidebar, but now seems like as good a time as any for us to direct you to one of the hottest events in the Twin Cities area that you can attend in the next three weeks.  That event is none other than Rock the Vine, a day of fine wine and spirits, blues and rock ‘n roll, and most importantly, charitable giving.

Via the Rock the Cause press release:

06.18.2010 – Rock the Cause, Youth Advantage and Saint Croix Vineyards are proud to host the inaugural Rock the Vine Music Festival at Saint Croix Vineyards on Saturday, July 17 from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. Top local and regional artists will come together for an afternoon of music, food, wine and beer tastings and more – all benefitting art, music, sports and educational enrichment programs for kids and families who need a little extra support!

Rock the Vine’s non-profit recipient will be Youth Advantage of Stillwater, an organization devoted to helping youth discover their creativity and passion through extracurriculars such as sports, art, music, science, and more.  Music will be provided by the likes of Alison Scott, The 4onthefloor, Cadillac Kolstad & Cornbread Harris, The Midnight Mo Experience, and The RtC All-Stars.  Free wine tastings will be offered by, of course, the St. Croix Vineyards.

Tickets are $15 in advance and can be purchased via the Rock the Cause website.  Tickets will also be available the day of the event for $20, and you particularly charitable folks out there might consider purchasing VIP tickets for $75.

Want a taste (musically) of what’s in store for the day?  You got it!

[audio=http://borangutan.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/06-Stop.mp3]

“Stop!” by: Alison Scott

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[audio=http://borangutan.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/01-Workin-Man-Zombie.mp3]

“Workin’ Man Zombie” by: The 4onthefloor

Links

Youth Advantage – Website

Rock the Cause – Website

St. Croix Vineyards – Website

posted July 3rd, 2010 at 12:22 am MN Rock Alison Scott, Cadillac Kolstad, Cornbread Harris, Rock the Cause, RtC All Stars, The 4onthefloor, The Mighty Mo Experience, Youth Advantage

A high school English teacher once told us in class that you could tell it was prom night in Iowa when all the farm boys drove their dad’s tractors into town. The hayseeds in my class laughed—not because the idea of driving one’s father’s International Harvester to prom was necessarily a bad idea—but because we weren’t from Iowa, and they were. Get it?! IOWA!!

Well, whatever vicious stereotypes sweeping through my hometown 18 miles above the Border about Iowans being a mostly an instant potato-subsisting, hog-smelling class of fannypackers were revealed to be entirely unsubstantiated when I moved to Des Moines for a summer. In fact, in recent years as far as trendy-worthy hipness is concerned, Iowa’s stock is rising faster than you can say “Michelle Bachman.”

Consider the recent Iowa Supreme Court ruling that legalized gay marriage; and what about the primary win Iowa voters gave then long-shot-candidate Barack Obama? Okay, so Iowa may not be a hotbed of avant-garde progressivism, but they do have a bigtime, kick-ass indie music festival this weekend that will see Spoon and Yo La Tengo on the same stage.

This coming weekend’s 80/35 Music Festival is only the latest evidence to suggest the good people down in Iowa are doing their best to quiet the supercilious mudslingers to the north. And frankly, there’s nothing quite as exciting going on in the Twin Cities this coming weekend (outside of a renovated Taste) as what they’ve got cooked up down the I35 corridor.

The 80/35 Music Festival in Des Moines’ Gateway Park (running July 3 and 4, $35 in advance for a 1-day ticket) has a list of great bands too long to mention (but we’ll try): Spoon, Modest Mouse, Yo La Tengo, Holly Golightly and the Brokeoffs, the Walkmen, Solid Gold, the Heavy, the Cool Kids, and Dawes. This is just a start. And it’s bound to be a seen-and-be-seen hipster crowd. Outside of the recent Republicans’ Presidential Straw Poll in Des Moines, this coming weekend will likely break the record for highest incidents of Croakies-sightings in the city proper.

So come on down, enjoy the best little city in the Midwest, and bring a camera—there are plenty of roadside fields on your way down the interestate to stop and see those flywatters chasing Volkswagon-sized hogs around on souped-up ATVs (likelysomewhere outside Albert Lea).

Here is “Bible Thumper” from Solid Gold, who will be waving the Minnesota flag at 80/35 (4:30 p.m., Saturday, at the Kum and Go Stage).

[audio=http://borangutan.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/Solid-Gold-Bible-Thumper.mp3]

“Bible Thumper” by: Solid Gold

posted July 1st, 2010 at 6:26 pm Uncategorized 80/35 music festival

The first time I saw Buffalo Moon, Preston “Danger” Holm was naked from the waist up playing a clarinet and gyrating dangerously close to a keyboard.

This wouldn’t be worth mentioning except that this band is so rad that it actually took me a couple songs in to their set at their CD release at the Bedlam to realize this.

Buffalo Moon released Wetsuit earlier this spring and will take their bossa nova meets 1960s psychedelic pop crazy train to the Kitty Cat Klub Saturday night, June 19. Black Blondie will assist.

Here Buffalo Moon wows the crowd at the Electric Fetus:

Links

Buffalo Moon – Website / Myspace

posted June 19th, 2010 at 1:14 am Uncategorized Black Blondie, Buffalo Moon, Kitty Cat Klub