This one is an old Current Song Of The Day from July ’08. It’s one of those songs that I always forget about until it comes up in my daily SOFD rotation (obviously, in July each year). I just love the break between the verse and the chorus. Every July this one kicks around my head for days.
02. Sims – Bad Time Zoo
I don’t need to do much explaining about Sims. Honestly, I could have picked any song from Bad Time Zoo and been comfortable putting it on the mix. When push came to shove I couldn’t resist the line, “This is where we’re livin’ at, live from the Minneap…” (You know I’m a sucker for that stuff. Sue me.)
03. Stnnng – The Incidents Surrounding My Three Deaths
I saw Stnnng open for Song Of Zarathustra a while back at the Triple Rock and came away with a newfound appreciation for them. I’d had this song and a couple others and was never super impressed, but after seeing them live, I kind of “get them,” for lack of a better term. I think I wrote this somewhere else a while back, but they’re like a slightly-less-catchy MPLS version of Les Savy Fav.
04. The Vandalias – Fall Girl
The Vandalias were a cartoon pop-rock band from the 90’s led by a guy named Dan Sarka. As you’re all well aware, I’m a sucker for pop songs and, honestly, this guy does it as well as anybody else. Every song on their albums are jam packed with hooks just like this one. Of course, as with most of the pop-rock stuff I love, Ms. Palmquist turned me on to this one. Thanks, honey.
Sidenote: Ms. Palmquist actually befriended Dan Sarka a few years back (well after The Vandalias had “broken up”) and I ended up meeting him at Stasiu’s one night when we were all catching a show. To this day he is the only person on my iPod who has bought me a beer. Step ya game up, rest of the MPLS music scene. I’m poor and thirsty!
05. Halloween,
I don’t know if you’ve ever tried to listen to a full Halloween,
However, I don’t mean to hate. The reason I put this song on the mix is because when you separate the songs from their album and put them in a new context, it’s easy to have an appreciation for their casual excellence.
06. No Bird Sing – Devil Trombones
No Bird Sing made a big splash last year as the “new big hip-hop act” in MPLS. I like them a lot, but I feel like Kill The Vultures does this type of hip-hop so much better. Just a personal opinion, but it bothers me, as KTV are still criminally underrated.
07. Gayngs – Coercion Van (MK Larada Regrind)
I thought it would be a bit too obvious to end one of the mixes with “Last Prom On Earth,” so I dug around the free Gayngs/Doomtree Affiliyated remix album to find another representative for Gayngs. If you haven’t taken the time to download this album, do yourself a favor and step ya data transfer game up. It’s a perfect album for strolling around the neighborhood at night. I like it just as much as it’s parent album Relayted.
Barfly Sidenote: I’ve actually gotten to know MK Larada a little bit in the last couple years because we’re regulars at the same bar. I was blown away when this “regrind” came out because, talking to him, he doesn’t seem super-interested in making music anymore. A damn shame if he’s tossing off mixes like this in his spare time.
08. The Baseball Project (w/Craig Finn) – Please Don’t Call Them Twinkies
I was torn about this song since the band (Peter Buck, Scott McCaughey, Steve Wynn, & Linda Pitmon) are not from
Really though, how could a song that is so passionate & knowledgeable about the Twins not make the Minnebasset Mix? I mean, last year when the Twins opened Target Field, I sat at the CC Club and actually did raise toasts to Tom Kelly & Kirby Puckett. If you’re not a Twins fan, you’ll just have to believe me, Finn sums up history & the nature of the fans beautifully (notice he doesn’t demand people not “call them Twinkies,” he asks, “please don’t call them Twinkies.”
09. Unknown Prophets (w/Slug) – Never
Big thanks to Phil for giving me this song years ago. Slug & Unknown Prophet’s MC Big Jess have since had some kind of stupid feud that centered around, of all things, family values.
10. Icollide – Twin Cities Scene Distortion
It seemed appropriate to end the first half of the mix with a blast of good old epic MPLS punk rock.
01. Revolver Modéle – Silhouettes
I bought Revolver Modéle’s Revolver EP on a whim a couple years ago while poking around Cheapo’s local section. The other two songs on the EP don’t amount to much, but I’ve been a fan of this one for a while. It has kind of this dark Replacements-meets-Bauhaus kind of vibe that seems to be pretty unique to the Twin Cities scene. A lot of bands could learn an important lesson from this song: If you don’t have a great song, play up the guitars & energy and downplay the arty bullshit. Speaking as a fan, it’s really getting old.
02. Aphrill – Schoolyard Bullies
This song and the next one are songs that I picked up off a couple of Twin Town High compilations over the years. To be honest, I know absolutely nothing about Aphrill. I think they’re vaguely related to the Big Quarters family somehow, but I may be wrong about that. I do like its message of positive practicality.
03. Kitty
I know even less about Kitty
04. Aby Wolf – What U Waitin’ 4?
Much like the Plagiarists’ song that opened the first half of the mix, this is one of those Current songs that I always forget about until it comes up in my SOFD playlist (each August for this one). I love it’s sneaky good melody. If you listened to this mix more than once, I know you found yourself walking around with that, “Never been a better time than right now…” bit kicking around your head.
I’ve seen Aby Wolf perform in two different capacities, first as a folkie at the 331 Club and then again performing with her friend Dessa at various Doomtree functions. She pulled of both of these styles swimmingly. You know I love Dessa (and I don’t say this to hate on her), but Dessa has a very bold style that has served her well and basically turned her into the defining female voice of MPLS. Listen to “What U Waitin’ 4?” again. It’s so brilliantly understated! I’m not at all sure that, as talented as she is, Dessa could pull off a song like this.
05. Middlepicker – Last Of The True Detectives
I’m not even sure why I like Middlepicker so much. Just good old dirty, catchy punk rock.
06. Mictlan – Megablast
You know that line from Doomtree’s “Slow Burn” when Mictlan starts his verse with, “Put ‘em up, Megablast!, a classic burner…?” Well, this is that classic burner. I love this song (and most of the songs from False Hopes 8 because they show just how interesting an MC Mictlan is. To be completely honest, the beats on this album suck. Like, really suck. You don’t really have any choice but to focus on Mike’s lyrics and hearing the way his brain goes from A to B to C without missing a beat is remarkable. Obviously, once he was teamed with Lazerbeak’s beats for Hand Over Fist, he released a classic. I’m excited to hear what he does next.
07. Dada Trash Collage – Paint On The Windows
The first time I heard this song I was put off by the fact that it just sounds so stereotypically “2011 Indie Rock”-ish. Kind of shambling, weird backing vocals, sudden piano breaks. Basically Win
08. The Honeydogs – Fiber Optic Paramour
One of my favorite things about The Current’s SOTD podcast is that I’m constantly exposed to things I’ve never heard before. I remember the day that I downloaded this one from The Current and being simultaneously excited/disappointed to see “The Honeydogs” come up when I clicked the download.
It’s not that I don’t like The Honeydogs. Quite the opposite. They’re known for a being a consistently good pop band, but never a great one. They’re almost like MPLS’s version of The Lemonheads. Basically, I figured I knew what I was getting into.
Well, once it only took me a couple of listens to become enamored with this song. It certainly has the hooks to back up their reputation, but the new wrinkles of the background loops (especially the horn that turns up after the chorus) showed me that The Honeydogs were a much more creative group than I previously gave them credit for.
09. Marijuana Deathsquads – John Cage Match
Bizarrely, MDS has become the hot new band in MPLS. I mean, if I had told you that a hardcore band was going to morph into massive band with members coming and going show after show, a wall of noise from guitars & keyboards, intensely tribal percussion, an essentially lyricless, wailing lead singer, and no hooks to be found, would you have believed me? Well, that happened.
If you haven’t seen them live, I suggest you put that high on your “Summer Goals” list. This song hardly does them justice. They are a wrecking ball.
10. Eyedea – Here For You
What can I even write about this song? Everything you could ever want to know about Eyedea is wrapped up in these now-heartbreaking 7 minutes. Miss ya, buddy.
