Editor’s Note: I dashed over to the Turf Club after work on Thursday as fast as I could in order to capture as much of Day 1 of Mark Mallman’s MARATHON 3 as my will, the bar, and camera batteries would allow. Luckily I was able to snag more than a few interesting moments from about 4:45 PM until 2 AM, so here’s a series of photos from the first 10 hours of an unimaginably long 78-hour performance that Mallman is still currently in the midst of undertaking.

Watch the LIVE stream of the performance here!

THURSDAY

Hour 2, 5:06 PM — Mallman with his longtime drummer Sean Hoffman; albeit he’s playing his first of several scheduled shifts at the 78-hour MARATHON 3 on bass.

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posted October 8th, 2010 at 4:59 pm MN Rock Mark Mallman

Skittish is a band that’s all about grandiose statements.  For their third album, Skittish are releasing a double-album titled “The Perfect Shade of Green” on October 22 at Station 4 in St. Paul, MN.  I recently had a chance to sit down and catch up with Jeff about all things Skittish.

Todd Millenacker: Why a double album and why now?

Jeff Noller: Well, I had a single album all planned out. With my new home studio I was going to record it myself and get it out there and start touring immediately. But I had some drastic life changes and decided to add a second half to the album. A darker, more experimental side to the rock based first half.  I also wanted the artistic challenge of weaving themes and ideas back and forth between the two sides of the album.

Plus, I’ve always loved albums. Sergeant Peppers, Graceland, stuff that has a feel and flow through every song. A complete piece of art. And in this day of downloading singles and quantity of content produced, not quality, it seems like the album is dying. Its fun and delightfully self-sabotaging to do the exact opposite of what ‘industry experts’ are saying. I still have plenty of “fuck you!” left in me from college.

Todd: Did you find it hard to come up with enough quality material?

Jeff: Well, after our last record, I had a pretty hefty case of writer’s block that lasted about a year. I ended up having to go to Nashville to cure it. On the way back I wrote the entirety of ‘Keep Driving’ off the new record, and for the next four months or so, the songs just came hemorrhaging out of me. The thing about writer’s block is that you’re still writing stuff, it all just sounds like crap to you. There are actually a couple pieces of songs I wrote during that dark time that I came back to and thought, “hmmm, this isn’t so bad” and popped them into songs on the album. If you just keep the antenna up long enough, eventually you’ll get filled up and the creative sap will have to flow out somewhere.

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posted October 8th, 2010 at 8:00 am MN Rock Jeff Noller, Skittish, The Perfect Shade of Green, Vonnie

In a weekend already packed with several big local shows and events, there is one that stands miles above the rest for its ambition and proverbial insanity in even attempting.

Could you possibly imagine staying awake for 78 consecutive hours, let alone performing on stage the entire time as well? That’s exactly what Mark Mallman and a rotating all-star cast of 75+ local musicians will be doing at the Turf Club beginning today at 4 PM and ending on Sunday at 10 PM.

MARATHON 3 (yes, he’s also done a 26-hour performance in 1999 and a 52-hour performance in 2004 too!) will be a unique journey to the veritable limits of physical endurance and musical creativity at the same time. Composed as a three-phase musical installation, Mallman aims to “expose the raw nerve of creativity itself” as he turns through hundreds of pages of lyrics written especially for this performance.

Call it what you will, but nobody in this town (other than Mallman of course) has proven to have the balls to attempt something of this magnitude, let alone already twice before. I highly encourage you to make a trip (or several) over to the Turf Club to see this for yourself, though you can also stream it live on Mallman’s website as well. Still up at 4 AM on Saturday? Tune in. Already bored at work at 10:30 AM on Friday? Check it out then too. You’ll also find previews of the material Mallman is performing and a full list of the musicians that will be backing him over the course of the event on his site as well.

Yet in the end, you may still be asking yourself why Mark Mallman would subject himself to such an unimaginably challenging endeavor? Ask him why, and he will say, “because”.

posted October 7th, 2010 at 12:03 pm MN Rock Mark Mallman

Pardon the numero inserto in the title, but it’s going to be Saturday night, and that makes it alright.  Speaking of, have you decided where you’re sneaking off to this evening?  If not, here are a few live show options to accompany your favorite local brew or blend.

John Snell X @ the 501 Club

Local psychedelic artist John Snell X will be performing a big chunk of his new double-disk record Peculiar Songs for a Particular Audience at the 501 tonight.  For those of you not acquainted with Mr. Snell, he’s a quirky live performer with a penchant for penning songs about love and politics.  Think a mix of Beatles, Paul Simon, and the Violent Femmes and you’re on to something.  Show starts at 9PM, 21+, $5 cover.

“I Could Write 20 Songs A Night” – John Snell X

The Johnson Twins @ The Dakota Jazz Club

The Johnson Twins are twin brothers Patrick and Sam Johnson.  Their music is an interesting mix of jazz and folk with a little indie cherry on top.  The quintessential flavor of the band is focused on the conspicuous absence of any guitars.  Instead, the fiddle, banjo, and accordion stand in – but don’t you go thinking that this is somehow gramma and gramps band.  The Johnson Twins reinvent these instruments for the now generation.  Music begins at 11:30PM, 21+, $5 cover.
02 If Insane

Lost Shepherds & Minor Kingdom @ the 331 Club

Local alternative folk will be alive and well at the 331 tonight featuring the release of Lost Shepherds new self-titled record.  Lost Shepherds are the ideal listening experience on a cool atmospheric fall evening, and isn’t that in the forecast tonight?  Interesting tidbit of info: Lost Shepherds new record was mastered by Ed Brooks who also mastered the Fleet Foxes.  Joining Lost Shepherds on the bill will be Grain Belt Records artist Kristian Melom  and his outfit Minor Kingdom.  If you’re in for something a little more smooth and laid back tonight, then Lost Shepherds, Minor Kingdom and an apple martini might be the direction to take.  Music starts at 9:30PM, 21+, No Cover.

“Unwanted” – Lost Shepherds

“Perfect” – Minor Kingdom

posted September 18th, 2010 at 2:02 pm Uncategorized John Snell X, Lost Shepherds, Minor Kingdom, The Johnson Twins

Too funny!  Earlier this week the Gimme Noise blog posted a new video from Jeremy Messersmith chronicling some of his most absurdly somnolent moments from his tour this past summer.  Well, alright, perhaps he doesn’t look too sleepy in this footage, but there is a bed involved.  (In fact, a lot of them!)

If there was ever any question as to whether a person could make a worthwhile music video using a simple camera phone – question answered.  It can be done, and the music video is for “Lazy Bones.”

posted September 10th, 2010 at 12:05 pm Video Jeremy Messersmith

Last week we tossed a new tune by Roma di Luna at you named “Hey Lover.”  If you didn’t catch it, go take a listen to “Hey Lover.”

This week Roma di Luna coincidentally showed up on MPLS.TV‘s City of Music.  Maybe it’s the song they performed, or maybe it’s Channy Moon Caselle’s voice, but somehow this installment of City of Music seems to be the most pleasantly sentimental yet.  The song performed is “Starling,” with nothing fancy in the surroundings – just the atmosphere.

posted September 10th, 2010 at 11:53 am Video City of Music, Roma di Luna