Two summers ago I was biking along a county highway parallel the Vermillion River in southeastern South Dakota, and I was passed in the opposite direction by what appeared to be a scarecrow driving a moped.

After a double take, I realized it was Eli Show—lead singer of local independent clause rock band, We All Have Hooks For Hands.

We made U-turns and met in the middle of the road. There’s no traffic on this stretch, and when there is, it’s tractors.

“How’s the new record coming?” I asked Eli (the new record, which would become The Shape of Energy, the band’s sophomore LP, wouldn’t be released for another calendar year).

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posted March 13th, 2010 at 10:33 pm Concert Announcements, MN Rock, Uncategorized Afternoon Records, We All Have Hooks For Hands

The onset of the digital age has brought about profound changes in the ways people interact and do business in the music industry.  As listeners increasingly flock to digital downloads and file sharing so too increases the volume of available music for consumers.  This has left many artists and PR people scratching their heads and wondering just how, exactly, one can blast through the clutter and social barriers to get their music into the ears of those who are hungry to cram their mp3 players full of new music.

There are many examples out there of artists and bands who are effectively leveraging the Web 2.0 environment, but the reality is that they all do some things better than others, and no individual or band may boast of getting it all right.  The reason – there is simply no Web 2.0 rosetta stone that can solve every social media problem (or otherwise).  Successfully driving music forward in the digital age requires a lot of savvy, diversifying usage of online tools, and a ton of work. (And I mean a ton of work!)

The following are five Minnesota bands or artists that I think are doing something right.  However, while I think all these bands and artists are accomplished and worthy of your attention, this is not a best of list.  In fact, closer inspection may reveal that while these folks are doing some things right, they’re also doing some things wrong (everyone is!), but what they do right, they do extraordinarily so!

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posted March 12th, 2010 at 9:02 am MN Rock Ari Herstand, Ed Ackerson, Jeremy Messersmith, Pictures of Then, Sick of Sarah

Yesterday evening’s WCCO newscast featured a story on Kathie “Pony” Hixon-Smith from The Melismatics. Pony has been an established musician in the Twin Cities music scene for over a decade, yet she was also raised by deaf parents. WCCO interviewed Pony and her parents on the subject, which you can watch and read about on their website.

Friendly reminder: You can check out The Melismatics at Sauce on March 26th with The Invincible Kids and Virtual CH.

Links

The Melismatics – Website / Facebook / MySpace / Twitter

posted March 11th, 2010 at 7:12 pm MN Rock, Music News, Video The Melismatics

This just in – there’s going to be some good ole’ fashioned rock ‘n roll and blues occurring at the Fine Line tomorrow night courtesy of Citizen Sage.  Local artist Sasha Maria will also be releasing her new album, and further support will be provided by Stealing Seconds and Six Shot Love.  Doors open at 8PM, music starts at 9PM.  Cover is $6 – 21+ only.  Here’s a taste of what you might expect, less of course, the summery backdrop!

posted March 11th, 2010 at 11:46 am Concert Announcements, MN Rock Citizen Sage, Sasha Maria, Six Shot Love, Stealing Seconds

Although not quite as popular as Van Halen, Oasis or even (gasp!) the Jonas Brothers – Nic and Matt Heidt of MSRP are proving that it’s not such a bad idea to start a band with your brother. I recently had the chance to sit down and question this heavy metal duo about all things MSRP including their newest techno-metal-rock release The Dead Talk Back.

Todd: MSRP recently released your second album The Dead Talk Back. What was the process of putting this EP together?

Nic Heidt: Well, it really started as a different band actually called “The Dead Talk Back”. Matt and I had wanted to try something different, really stripped down and a bit catchier than what we had already done. We asked a couple of friends (Jon from Stellar Vector/Dissociate and Kris, ex-Lifelike bassist) if they would be interested in collaborating with us and went from there. It was going to be very sparse and live sounding. We were even going to limit the number of tracks we used for recording. Very basic: 2 tracks for guitar, a track for bass, one drum kit and one track for vocals per person singing.

When the timing didn’t work out for a totally new band and it became an MSRP thing, we went back and experimented with the drum sounds and added tracks like harmony vocals and guitar overdubs to bring it back into MSRP territory.

“Like Rome” by: MSRP

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posted March 10th, 2010 at 10:48 pm Interviews, MN Rock Matt Heidt, MSRP, Nick Heidt, TC Electropunk

Arguably the biggest band to come out of Minneapolis right now, Motion City Soundtrack is on their way back home after completing the first half of their Spring headlining world tour that took them through much of the US, with an additional series of dates in Australia and Japan. Here’s a video from their final stop in Japan, performing “Everything is Alright”. The audio quality on this raw clip may be a bit rough, but the energy is still through the roof.

Motion City Soundtrack’s tour resumes on March 23rd with a trip the UK before another run around the eastern US through April, culminating in a pair of performances at New Jersey’s Bamboozle Festival on April 30th & May 2nd. They’ll actually be performing an entire set covering songs by Nine Inch Nails (!) at the April 30th gig, which I would actually love to see myself…

P.S. – Didn’t get a chance to see their sold-out show at First Avenue back in January? Well, if you don’t mind a short trip up to Duluth you can see them there on April 6th.

Links

Motion City Soundtrack – Website / Facebook / MySpace / Twitterrrrrrr / Our exclusive guest review of newest release My Dinosaur Life

posted March 9th, 2010 at 4:44 pm MN Rock, Music News, Video Motion City Soundtrack

How’s this for nerdy-cool? Minneapolis’s own Mark Mallman just had his song “Do You Feel Like Breaking Up?” approved and added to the Rock Band 2 network, which means you can now buy it and play it yourself! We also found this video of an early play-test of the song on the Interwebs for you, just so you can get a feel for when your hands are going to fall off from the especially intense drum parts.

If only Rock Band included piano in their instruments, then we could really pretend to be like Mr. Serious in this game.

FYI: Do you want to have one of your songs playable in Rock Band 2 and even make money off it? Yes, it’s no joke! Wired has a great article on the step-by-step process for getting a song in Rock Band 2. I could think of nothing better than shredding a guitar solo on a great local rock tune while pretending to be someone like Jonathan Ehresmann from The Notties… except for actually doing that in real life of course…

Linktastic Goodness Galore

Mark Mallman – Website / MySpace / Twitter

posted March 8th, 2010 at 5:18 pm MN Rock, Music News Mark Mallman

The Alarmists return for their first local show in two months tonight at The Varsity alongside The Farewell Circuit, Greycoats, and Mercer.

Be there or be a hexagonal prism. (Note: You probably don’t want to be a hexagonal prism.)

P.S. – Want to score a copy of Greycoats’ album Setting Fire To The Great Unknown but lacking in fund-age? You can download it for free here: http://drop.io/GreycoatsFullAlbum

posted March 5th, 2010 at 2:24 pm Concert Announcements, MN Rock Greycoats, Mercer, The Alarmists, The Farewell Circuit

Twin Cities rockers Camera Can’t Lie released at the tail end of last year a new video for their song “Days & Days,” a visual commentary on the effects of the wars overseas on soldiers’ families here at home.  Recently bassist Kyle Lindsay provided a statement describing the impetus for the video, and in times like these when we are becoming more and more concerned with troubles at home, it’s important for us to remember those of us who are experiencing troubles elsewhere.  Here’s what Kyle had to say:

Hello, my name is Kyle Lindsay. I play in the Minneapolis band Camera Can’t Lie and to honor these brave soldiers and their families, we decided to shoot this video. It shows actual Minnesota families holding up pictures of their soldiers or a card that states how many days they have been away. We hope that this finds you well and encourages you and your family, all the while honoring your soldier. This hits me close to home because my brother-in-law Ryan is in the Marines and has already served one tour in Iraq. There is always that uncertainty of how he is doing and when he will be coming home. While there the vehicle he was driving ran over an IED (improvised explosive device) and which ejected him and those in the vehicle 10-15 feet in the air. His injuries sustained put him in the hospital and thankfully after a week of recovery he was alright. Others as we know are not as fortunate. One aspect of this war that is not talked about enough is the families involved. They are a rare breed that endure the highest levels of anxiety and uncertainty, all the while having a deep sense of gratitude and pride. Thank you all for your time and your part in making this country one of greatness and freedom.

“Days & Days” is off Camera Can’t Lie’s Days & Days EP which dropped last October.

Links

Camera Can’t Lie – Website / Myspace

posted March 5th, 2010 at 1:36 pm MN Rock, Video Camera Can't Lie

Our pals over at Northern Outpost just threw up some live footage they recorded of Minneapolis’ self-evident.  Great stuff as always.  Self-evident plays tonight at the 501 Club with The Yoleus, Guzzlemug, and Power of 2.

Links

self-evident – Website / Myspace

Northern Outpost – Website

posted March 5th, 2010 at 12:32 pm MN Rock, Video Guzzlemug, Northern Outpost, Power of 2, self-evident, The Yoleus