Album Of The Week : November 25-December 1, 2013

My Album Of The Week for the week of November 25th-December 1st, 2013:

Frankie Teardrop - Tough Guy

A couple of things led to me spending the week with "Tough Guy."  First, I was reading Erik Thompsons's excellent Gimme Noise column 10 Twin Cities Music Acts Who Deserve To Be Famous and, continuing the Sisyphian struggle that is keeping up with the Twin Cities music scene, I downloaded whatever albums I could find from the artists in the column.

While all of those albums will likely find their way to Album Of The Week status, Frankie Teardrop jumped to the front of the line when his song "Chicago" was one of the Song Of The Day tracks (meaning I'd be spending the week with it anyway and reviewing it for Songs Of The Week).  Rather than spend two weeks with "Chicago" I decided to kill two birds with one stone and just make Tough Guy my album of the week.

After a couple of spins I can't totally tell if the songs of Tough Guy are garage rock songs polished up or pop songs stripped down.  More important than that, though, is that the record is fun.  Late November is the time of the year when the Twin Cities stops being fun and starts being a city of "serious artists."  Listening to an album that ends with a song called "Pizza Lyfestyle" is a nice way to combat that creeping pretension.

Tough Guy is available as a name-your-price download on Frankie Teardrop's Bandcamp page.

Songs Of The Week #67: TCDroogsma

(THIS POST ORIGINALLY APPEARS ON THE TWIN CITIES BLOG NEWEST INDUSTRY)

Aura, Herman Jones, Mind & Matter, Walter Lewis & The Blue Stars, & The Style Band...

Well hello again, MP3 junkies!  Welcome to Songs Of The Week #67!

For those of you who are new to the SOTW column, here's the story:  TCDroogsma and MinneSarah are both fans of The Current's Song Of The Day podcast.  They're also both opinionated and have access to computers.  Seeing an opportunity to let them indulge in their MP3 habit and put them to work writing reviews we created the Songs Of The Week column.  Over a year later later and here we are.

As always, we strongly suggest that you follow this link and subscribe to the podcast yourself.  It's free and it's fun for the whole family!

This week provide two unique challenges.  First (and most importantly), MinneSarah took the week off.  Unfortunately that means all you're left with is the ramblings of TCDroogsma.  Again, we apologize.

Second, this week's batch of songs all come courtesy of the new Twin Cities Soul & Funk compilation Purple Snow: Forecasting The Minneapolis Sound.  It's an interesting artifact released by Numero Group that charts just what the Twin Cities music scene sounded like in the days before Prince.
 
Once you've given each song a spin or two feel free to cast a vote for your favorite song of the week in the poll to the right side of the page.  The artist who accrues the most votes wins the validation that comes from winning an anonymous internet poll, arguably the loftiest height to which a modern musician can aspire.

So... Droogsy... thoughts?

01.  Aura - Taste Of Love



TCDroogsma:

     Alright, first things first:  As I've mentioned just about every time I've been asked to review a funk and/or soul song here for SOTW I've prefaced my review by stating that I almost never listen to this style of music in my free time.  As such, I think almost all of the songs are great.  Imagine if you'd never been on a rollercoaster before and then rode the coaster at Mall Of America.  You'd think it was the greatest rollercoaster ever, right?  Well, that's how I feel about funk & soul tunes.  So take just about everything I write this week with a grain of salt.

     Now that that's out of the way, let's get into this.

     "Taste Of Love" was probably my favorite of these songs.  It's an ode to those first few weeks (months?) of being genuinely, obsessively in love.  Despite it's alluring title, the song has a pure, sexuality-free innocence to it.  While the bass & chka-chka guitar definitely give this song a funky flavor, at its core "Taste Of Love" is a pop song (complete with a horn-based hook in the chorus that sounds like it would fit right at home as a jingle for a car commercial).  With group vocals ending the song singing, "the more I taste it, the more I love it..." the song sounds like it could soundtrack a montage of a young, hip couple playing with dogs and trying on hats.

Final Score: 4/5

02.  Herman Jones - I Love You

TCDroogsma:

     "I Love You" continues along the same innocent lines as "Taste Of Love."  The songs reflects on a love that dates all the way back "from childhood to high school."  The backing vocalists play off the innocene of the song with some "do-do-dooo's" that, were this a slicked up record, would likely have been mixed much more smoothly.  As such, they have a ragged, charmingly amateur-ish sound, making "I Love You" sound less like a song for the masses and more like a demo recorded by Herman Jones specifically for the ears of his life-long love.

Final Score: 3/5

03.  Mind & Matter - Sunshine Lady

TCDroogsma:

     "Sunshine Lady" opens with a rumble of thunder that makes it wound like something Tim Meadows would have played when he was hosting The Quiet Storm.  The song quickly takes a turn toward the more pleasant, bouncing along until we reach the chorus in which we're informed that the titular lady was given her name because, "You're the one who made me grow..."  With that bit of knowledge the song almost seems like a sequel to "I Love You,"  the innocence of youth has passed, the complications of the twenties were faced hand in hand (symbolized by the opening thunder clap), and our couple is standing at the precipice of the next chapter with a love stronger than 

Final Score: 3/5

04  Walter Lewis & The Blue Stars - I Have Love At Home




TCDroogsma:

      At this point in the narrative arc or our couple the first moments of new love from "Taste Of Love" have passed, the mutual affection of "I Love You" has been established, and that love has pushed through the trials and tribulations of early adulthood during "Sunshine Lady."

     So now, as the couple ages, it's time to slow things down a little bit.  The Blue Stars find a nice, easy groove while Walter Lewis, with his warm, weathered voice addresses nobody in particular (a friend, an easy-going bartender, a flirtatious bar patron) that he has love at home.  The song's easy groove suggests an uncluttered mind as he echo Mind & Matter singing, "She is my sunshine when I'm down in the dark..."

     Lewis cedes a verse to his female counterpart who tells Lewis, "When other people talk about me, spread my name up and down the street, you make me feel like I'm a queen all over the world..."  Lewis returns one last time, validation in hand, to remind us all that he has love at home.  With his story told, Lewis gives the impression that he's leaving his audience (again, in my mind, a bartender) and hailing a cab with the line, "Take me home..."

Final Score: 4/5

05.  The Style Band - If You Love Me



TCDroogsma:

     The Style Band ends our narrative, but that's OK considering my narrative is completely made up and entirely dependent on the sequencing of these tracks within the podcast.

     Where the rest of the songs sounded like artifacts from a Minneapolis I've never seen in person, The Style Band rides a wobbly synth line that actually brings to mind some of Prince's better work.  That gives "If You Love Me" a more modern sound that my brain is not going to romanticize by constructing a fake narrative.  Rather, "If You Love Me" abandons the innocence of the songs above for a hook of, "If you love me give me your love all night..."

     An unfortunate side effect of the song being somewhat recognizable is that, rather than calling to mind a fictionalized 70's, it takes me back to the roots of a sound that we've all seen develop into the "Minneapolis Sound" that defined the 80's.  In much the same way that listening to early hip-hop and early rock n roll seems incredibly simplistic and basic compared to what we've grown accustomed to, "If You Love Me" sounds like a nice building block, but not much more.

Final Score: 2/5

Well there you have it, MP3 junkies!  Another week's worth of songs downloaded, reviewed, & filed away!

As always, please keep in mind that neither Newest Industry nor our contributors are in any way affiliated with the artists above, The Current, or MPR.  We're just music fans with laptops and a bit too much time on our hands.

For more TCDroogsma be sure to give him a follow on Twitter (@TCDroogsma).  He can also be found right here on Newest Industry hosting our free weekly podcast Flatbasset Radio






For more Newest Industry be sure to give us a follow on Twitter (@NewestIndustry1) to stay up on the work being done by all of our contributors.  More importantly, we have a Facebook page here.  Trivial as it seems, stopping by and giving us a "Like" is a free & legitimate way to support the blog.

Album Of The Week: November 18-24, 2013

My Album Of The Week for the week of November 18th-24th, 2013:

The Central Division - Neighbor Of The Beast

I found out about The Central Division in just about the most roundabout way possible.  A few months back a local band called Citroën started following me on Twitter.  As such I went to their Bandcamp page to check out their music (and ended up downloading their Anachronaut EP, a previous AOTW).  After listening to their album I clicked on their "Recommendations" and found a single by The Central Division titled "It's Not The Heat, It's The Humility" (which I ended up playing on Flatbasset Radio: Episode #22).

Flatbasset Radio: Episode #22 by Tcdroogsma on Mixcloud

(Quick Apology Sidenote:  If you do happen to listen to that podcast I mention that The Central Division is broken up.  FALSE!  They are not broken up.  That's what I get for not doing my research.)

Long story longer, I spent a week with each song from the It's Not The Heat, It's The Humility single and their 3 Songs EP.  I enjoyed each thoroughly enough that the next logical step was to spend a week with their LP Neighbor Of The Beast.

So here we are.  After listening to those previous EP's I thought The Central Division was in line with turn-of-the-century punk bands like Brand New and Taking Back Sunday.  Upon further listen, however, there's definitely an art-rock strain along the lines of Sunny Day Real Estate.

Anyway, all of that music is available on their Bandcamp page.  Give it a spin or two.

Songs Of The Week #66: TCDroogsma & MinneSarah

(THIS POST ORIGINALLY APPEARS ON THE TWIN CITIES BLOG NEWEST INDUSTRY)

Best Coast, Naughty Boy, RJD2, Deltron 3030, & No Bird Sing...

Well hello again, MP3 junkies!  Welcome to Songs Of The Week #66!

For those of you who are new to the SOTW column, here's the story:  TCDroogsma and MinneSarah are both fans of The Current's Song Of The Day podcast.  They're also both opinionated and have access to computers.  Seeing an opportunity to let them indulge in their MP3 habit and put them to work writing reviews we created the Songs Of The Week column.  Over a year later later and here we are.

As always, we strongly suggest that you follow this link and subscribe to the podcast yourself.  It's free and it's fun for the whole family!

To that end, once you've given each song a spin or two, feel free to cast a vote for your favorite song of the week in the poll to the right side of the page.  The artist who accrues the most votes wins the validation that comes from winning an anonymous internet poll, arguably the loftiest height to which a modern musician can aspire.

As per tradition TCDroogsma and MinneSarah have not read each other's reviews prior to posting

So... Droogsy, Sarah... thoughts?


01.  Best Coast - Lonely Morning (from the EP Fade Away)

TCDroogsma:

     I've never liked Best Coast.  Their songs are inoffensively bland, but the indie media's insistence that I give a shit about this woman & her cat was just too much.  That was two or three years ago.  Here we have "This Lonely Morning," a by-the-numbers pop-rock number that sounds as if Rivers Cuomo decided he had enough material for Raditude and sold this one off to the highest bidder.  While there's no inherent sin in regurgitating old ideas, there's nothing interesting about it either.


MinneSarah:

     About ten years ago, Greg Behrendt changed the course of psychology forever by unequivocally proclaiming, "He's not that into you."  Since then, I have had a harder time discerning the nuances of relationships in song lyrics - let's not look desperate, he's probably not interested.  But...sometimes timing just doesn't work out and this song has convinced me to go against popular belief and think, "It's going to get better - it's just an off morning!"

     I'm torn - while this West Coast surf revival is starting to wear on me, I have to recognize that Best Coast were the ones that brought it into mainstream indie.  This song is polished, focused, and spot on to the genre (with a hint of shoegaze).  Bethany's vocals are direct and full, and the rest of the song is tight and to the point.  If, like me, you are having to pare down your indie beach rock collection, this is one not to cut. 

Final Score - TCDroogsma: 1.5/5
                               MinneSarah: 3/5

02.  Naughty Boy (w/Sam Smith) - La La La (from the album Hotel Cabana)

TCDroogsma:

     As I see it, there's two interesting sides to "La La La."

     First, the musical side.  Naughty Boy and Sam Smith are completely and unapologetically aiming for the Top 40.  "La La La" is packed to the gills with gender indifferent lyrics casting the widest net possible.  The hook is aimed straight for the pleasure center of the brain while the sampled, skewed "La la la's..." aim for the part of the brain that makes you think you have "interesting" taste in music.

     Which brings me to the second side: Presentation.  This song was conceived solely to end up on the KDWB's of the world and move units.  Now, make no mistake, KDWB is awesome.  I would rather listen to Trey Songz than Tom Waits every day forever.  But the fact that this song is on The Current speaks to that station's infatuation with packaging, presentation, & pointless contrarianism.  With the words "Naughty Boy & Sam Smith" atop a smarty retro-designed "LP" (re: Soundcloud avatar), The Current eats it up.  If it turned out "Naughty Boy" was actually will.i.am and those skewed samples were Fergie the "tastemakers" at The Current wouldn't give it another spin.

MinneSarah:

     Oh wow.  This collaboration between British DJ Naughty Boy and up and coming soul revival vocalist Sam Smith, is unexpected on t\The Current - while I copped to not actually listening to the Current anymore on last week's reviews - has it come to this?

     Let me back up by saying I love British music, I love anything with an electronic drive to it, Eurotrash is one of my favorite cultural exports, and I just went to Sneaky Pete's in the Warehouse District this week, finally finding out what that Robin Thicke character is all about.  So my surprise is not inherently a bad sign.  The lyrics are about tuning out anything you don't want to hear - la la la.  This song gives credibility to ostrich avoidance techniques.  As a person who deletes at least one contact from my phone per week, I'm totally on board.
 
Final Score - TCDroogsma: 3/5
                               MinneSarah: 3/5

03.  RJD2 - Her Majesty's Socialist Request (from th album More Is Than Isn't)

TCDroogsma:

     I can't help but feel for RJD2.  Back in the early 2000's, when he was making killer beats for the finally-making-their-mark indie rap world everybody thought he was the future of hip-hop.  However, part of what made that early work so great was that RJD2 was clearly following his own muse.  When that muse led him to get behind the microphone and morph into the singer/songwriter/producer for The Third Hand, he was basically left behind by those early fans.

     I thought The Third Hand was an interesting record, but it's nearly impossible to compare to RJ's early work.  Unfortuanately, "Her Majesty's Socialist Request" continues his half-hearted attempt to win back his old fans without necessarily jamming himself into the old "hip-hop producer" box.  While that strategy has worked well before (See: 2011's "The Glow"), this one's lacking.  It has an RJ-by-numbers feel to it that seems like it will elicit little more than a "meh..." from both sides of his fanbase.

MinneSarah:

     Instrumental songs can drag on, though "Her Majesty's Socialist Request," keeps interest by drifting through and building on disparate genres to create a song that flows and works.  Handclaps are the main percussion through this song - and it vacillates from the bravado of the streets of big city America to a mellow dissonant Middle Eastern vibe.  There are no lyrics, but a sample of a man saying - "Buy," "Sell," "Soul" with the sound of a bomb exploding does drive the song's title home without much room for interpretation.  The song leaves on a sample that sounds like a seventies TV show, but it works the nostalgia end and makes sense as a closer. 

Final Score - TCDroogsma: 2.5/5
                               MinneSarah: 3.5/5

04.  Deltron 3030 (w/Zack De La Rocha) - Melding Of The Minds (from the album Event 2)

TCDroogsma:

     Fun fact:  Since the release of Deltron 3030 back in 2001 Del hasn't stopped being awesome.  Actually, he was pretty awesome before that album finally launched him up the hip-hop ladder.  Unfortunately for Del, a lot of those new fans he found with the first Deltron album had no interest in following along once "Deltron" stopped rapping about the future and returned to being Del The Funky Homosapien and all the Bay Area rapping that came with it.

     I suppose I can't blame Del for returning to the Deltron format.  It's his most recognizable (and most profitable name) and there's no sense just letting it stay on the shelf.  On "Melding Of The Minds" he teams up with Zack de la Rocha, another man who knows a thing or two about how fans fall along when groups breakup (I know people who still make me listen to "Killing In The Name."  I don't know anybody who owns a One Day As A Lion record).  On "Melding Of The Minds" Deltron takes de la Rocha's hook and spins it into part of his narrative about a war in the future.  Somehow this all makes sense.

MinneSarah:

     It's 2013, and hip-hop supergroups are a thing.  While I reached the pinnacle of my approval with this genre in 2002 with Gorillaz, Deltron 3030 is carrying the torch in a way that doesn't even make me feel that old.

     "Melding of the Minds" features guest vocals by Zach de la Rocha, so you know the bent of the song is at least slightly political.  Del's rhymes are clean and sound effortless - he fits a remarkable amount of lyrics into 4 minutes. Kid Koala's beats sound increasingly urgent, which builds the song up into an almost exhausting fervor.  However, for a song featuring heavyweight musicians with unquestionable talent and passion, "Melding of the Minds," still has enough sense of play and whimsy for it to be both serious and enjoyable.

Final Score - TCDroogsma: 3.5/5
                               MinneSarah: 3/5

05.  No Bird Sing (w/Molly Dean) - And War (from the album Definition Sickness)

TCDroogsma:

     I'm still not certain what to make of the direction No Bird Sing has taken with "And War" (and the other tracks on Definition Sickness).

     Up until this album No Bird Sing operated as a sort of art-rap Kill The Vultures.  Where Crescent Moon rapped about his own demons over sparse, kitchen sink beats, Joe Horton & No Bird Sing took a more "poetic' approach.  The instrumentation was sparse, but rather than the rough sounds of KTV, they leaned heavily on live, jazz-like instrumentation.  Horton's lyrics are certainly cryptic, but unlike the world-weary Crescent Moon, Horton sported a young man's anger and optimism at the world around him.  The main similarity between both artists was that their voices were definitely the most important instrument in their toolbox.

     "And War" takes No Bird Sing in a different direction.  The jazz-leaning tendencies have been replaced by synth-lines and massive drums, leaving the beat sounding like Ryan Olson remixing Peter Gabriel.  The problem with such a lush & consuming beat is that it leaves Horton's voice one of many moving parts.  Oddly, this takes away from the lyrics of the song.  I may not have been able to make out what he was driving at on old NBS songs, but when that voice is upfront & passionate it's easy to find yourself spending time trying to unravel the string.  "And War" never demands your attention in the same way, content to let you bask in the sound rather than the lyrics.

MinneSarah:

     "And War" is a downbeat song, weaving ethereal backing vocals and heavy drum beats with serious lyrics.  No Bird Sing has a poetic approach to songwriting, meaning the lyrics can be up for interpretation.  The lyrics are passionately delivered and dark, though not always totally coherent, they still make the point.   Molly Dean's bittersweet vocals add to the sense of hope in a dark world vibe that this song has going.  While I haven't listened to much downbeat hip-hop in recent years, it sounds as though No Bird Sing has a firm hold on the genre, and rather than causing the listener to feel hopeless, "And War" embraces the darker side of the coin without going over the edge.

Final Score - TCDroogsma: 3/5
                               MinneSarah: 3/5

Well there you have it, MP3 junkies!  Another week's worth of songs downloaded, reviewed, & filed away!

As always, please keep in mind that neither Newest Industry nor our contributors are in any way affiliated with the artists above, The Current, or MPR.  We're just music fans with laptops and a bit too much time on our hands.

For more TCDroogsma be sure to give him a follow on Twitter (@TCDroogsma).  He can also be found right here on Newest Industry hosting our free weekly podcast Flatbasset Radio

For more MinneSarah be sure to give her a follow on Twitter (@MinneSarah).  She can also be found right here on Newest Industry filing reports out of St. Paul for our Big Day Out column




For more Newest Industry be sure to give us a follow on Twitter (@NewestIndustry1) to stay up on the work being done by all of our contributors.  More importantly, we have a Facebook page here.  Trivial as it seems, stopping by and giving us a "Like" is a free & legitimate way to support the blog.

Album Of The Week: November 11-17, 2013

My Album Of The Week for the week of November 11th-17th, 2013:

MaLLy - Strange Rhythm

After a few years of bubbling underground MaLLy finally staked his claim in the Twin Cities hip-hop scene with last year's The Last Great, a collaboration with producer The Sundance Kid.  His profile in Minneapolis has only grown since then.  He's released a couple of songs since then, but Strange Rhythm is his highly anticipated official follow up.

Hopefully most of you remember that I opened Flatbasset Radio: Episode #21 with "Dead Art Painting," the first track off Strange Rhythm.  That track is indicative of the project as a whole, with Last Word (of the Get Cryphy crew) providing a more sparse canvas than The Sundance Kid.  Strange Rhythm is an intriguing EP for two reasons:  First, MaLLy is no longer rapping from the position of "underdog," a stance that shines through somewhat angrily on tracks like "Guillotine" and "Every Promise."  Second, if I'm not mistaken, Strange Rhythm is the first project Last Word has produced in its entirety.

I'm not going to write much more about this one since I haven't spent much time with it yet.  I'm definitely looking forward to spending the week with it.  It's available on MaLLy's Bandcamp site and I definitely recommend that you give it a spin.

Songs Of The Weeek #65: TCDroogsma & MinneSarah

(THIS POST ORIGINALLY APPEARS ON THE TWIN CITIES BLOG NEWEST INDUSTRY)

Luke Temple, Lissie, Cass McCombs, Noah & The Whale, & Lizzo...

Well hello again, MP3 junkies!  Welcome to Songs Of The Week #65!

For those of you who are new to the SOTW column, here's the story:  TCDroogsma and MinneSarah are both fans of The Current's Song Of The Day podcast.  They're also both opinionated and have access to computers.  Seeing an opportunity to let them indulge in their MP3 habit and put them to work writing reviews we created the Songs Of The Week column.  Over a year later later and here we are.

As always, we strongly suggest that you follow this link and subscribe to the podcast yourself.  It's free and it's fun for the whole family!

To that end, once you've given each song a spin or two, feel free to cast a vote for your favorite song of the week in the poll to the right side of the page.  The artist who accrues the most votes wins the validation that comes from winning an anonymous internet poll, arguably the loftiest height to which a modern musician can aspire.

As per tradition TCDroogsma and MinneSarah have not read each other's reviews prior to posting

So... Droogsy, Sarah... thoughts?

01. Luke Temple - Florida (from the album Good Mood Fool)

TCDroogsma:

     Spending the last week with "Florida" as the first song I heard was kind of a trip.  The weather kept getting cooler while Luke Temple reaffirming my Upper Midwest moxy by reminding whoever Florida is that, "You won't do to good in the cold you know..."  Yeah, Florida. You ain't built for this.

     That first verse left me afraid that I'd be spending the week with some dreary folk music, but oh, that chorus.  Temple comes of like Justin Vernon if he'd had grown up on Steely Dan records.  I don't know what this Florida person is struggling with, but when Temple sings, "If it's a line you understand then cross it, baby, and move on..." sounds less like advice and more like reassurance.  The strings & synths wrap the whole song up in a kind of warmth that makes the cold seem bearable.

MinneSarah:

     I'd never heard of Luke Temple before this song - maybe I'm behind the curve.  Instead of all this soul revival we've been hearing, why not encourage a soulful yet confidently relaxed answer to Jeff Buckley?

     Maybe it's the age I'm at, but this sounds pretty darn good. Laid back bass, drums, and yes...bongo open "Florida", and it slips into a comfortable groove early on.  Temple's vocals are on the high end of the range, but do give me that Buckley fix I've been searching high and low to find for years.  The sentiment of the lyrics is bittersweet, but places make great stand ins for people or opportunities so I didn't read to far into them. I would certainly check out his other work based on this song.
 

Final Score - TCDroogsma: 3.5/5
                               MinneSarah: 4/5

02. Lissie - Shameless (from the album Back To Forever)

TCDroogsma:

     "Shameless" sounds like it came out of a time warp from the 90's.  "I saw your magazine, the one with the beauty queen on the front, I see her look at me, I swear that it is bugging me, what the fuck?"  What the fuck, indeed, Lissie.

     Lissie paints "Shameless" as a call-to-arms against airbrushed beauty, but fails on multiple fronts.  In the chorus she claims that, "I don't know what this game is, 'cause I'm not even playing it," which is obviously not true considering she's just crafted a whole song hating the game.  She then plays one of the most tried-and-true pop star cards ever, claiming "I don't want to be famous, if I have to be shameless!" clumsily aiming for the sort of indifferent cool can only be achieved if you don't, y'know, actually mention it. When Lissie goes on the least threatening rant ever at the end of this song ("I read your magazine, I'd maybe change a couple of things!) I half expected her to yell, "Courtney Love & Marilyn Manson, your all fake run to your mansions! Come round here we'll kick your ass in!"

     Which brings me to the real fault of "Shameless," which is timing.  It's 2013!  We live in an age where we, the consumer, control exactly what media we want to indulge in.  Nothing is forced down our throats.  Honestly, who the fuck even buys magazines anymore?  In a world of Spotify, Twitter, YouTube, & Instagram the artist can control nearly every aspect of their own public presentation.  Hell, just look at the way I discovered Lissie (right here, via this podcast).  "Shameless" sounds far more like a play for the hearts, minds, and dollars of teenagers who feel insecure when they watch Katy Perry videos than an actual shot across the bow of the publicity machine.

MinneSarah:

     This song can't be very new - it's emblazoned on my brain from the Current, which I haven't even listened to since the member drive.  While most people turn their dials away from the incessant member drive, I mark my calendar and only listen during that wonderful time.  The Current plays the best of the best music and gives the listener constant affirmation for being an intelligent elite for listening - the rest of the year sounds downright boring in comparison!

     So I've established that this song is quite catchy as I remember it through the past couple months and that it was showcased during a time that the Current really wanted to keep you on the station.  Well, "Shameless" is a catchy song.  The singer's delivery is passionately enraged, and the lyrics channel a pay-per-view of Bust magazine vs. Elle magazine. 

Final Score - TCDroogsma: 1/5
                               MinneSarah: 4/5

03.  Cass McCombs - There Can Only Be One (from the album Big Wheels And Others)

TCDroogsma:

    When I saw that I'd be listening to a song from Cass McCombs titled "There Can Be Only One" my first thought was, "Yes!  Finally somebody has written a prog-folk epic about The Highlander!"  Sadly, my hopes were dashed almost immediately.

     Honestly, I don't know what the fuck McCombs is talking about for a majority of this song.  "Blackened master's baptism of fire, I know you have your ways, and two masters at once, no man can acquire, it set my heart ablaze..."  Oh, for real?  Nah, that sounds like an actual problem and not, y'know, hyper-literate lyrics for their own sake.  I honestly have no idea if McCombs is struggling with two lovers or if the devil & god are raging inside of him.  I do know that, after spending a week with "There Can Be Only One,"  I have no interest in ever hearing about it again.

MinneSarah:

     I hereby name the bongo as the MVP of 2013 music.  This instrument is prominently showcased in "There Can Be Only One," along with many of the other songs that have been part of this feature this year.  How did music sound without bongos, and do we need to thank Matthew McConaughey?  The temp of this song is sleepy, small town country-folk, and the lyrics are delivered very slowly as well.  A small tangent - I can't keep these neo-country folk acts straight.  I feel as confused as I was in high school when it was impossible to tell the difference between the boy bands - are you sure that's not NSYNC?  I'll try and remember, Cass McCombs - the bongos...wait, that could be any of these songs. 

Final Score - TCDroogsma: 2/5
                               MinneSarah: 2/5

04.  Noah & The Whale - All Through The Night (from the album Heart Of The Night)

TCDroogsma:

     It's appropriate that the subject matter of "All Through The Night" hinges on the idea of pretending to lives somebody else's life because your life is "only dead end."  Noah And The Whale spend the entirety of "All Through The Night" trying on different indie rock hates.  That opening guitar riff sounds like somebody trying to figure out how to play "Achin' To Be."  The nonsensical chorus of "Oh, you didn't think so honey..." comes off like the worst Hamilton Leithauser impression ever, delivered far too kindly to carry any real bite.  There's a hint of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah in there.  A dash of Nada Surf.  Just a pinch of Alt-J (which is still more Alt-J than anybody needs)... Sadly, Noah & The Whale's Frankenstein experiment yields nothing more than a very, very average pop song.

MinneSarah:

     The band members of Noah And The Whale must be young,  I know this because they have the audacity to combine 80's guitar riffs with indie folk rock. Also, the lyrics are footloose and fancy free.   While the past fifty years of decades are coming back in their own revival, I haven't heard anything that has so pulled from an after school special and then squarely landed in 2013.  It's pretty amazing.

     For being an indie folk band, this group relies heavily on electric guitars and is on the fringe of the genre - this may have been what Franz Ferdinand may have sounded like if it got its start in the late 2000's/early 2010's.  "All Through the Night" sounds upbeat and familiar, and I give them credit for mixing it up with other elements they love. 

Final Score - TCDroogsma: 2/5
                               MinneSarah: 3/5

05.  Lizzo - Bus Passes And Happy Meals (from the album Lizzobangers)

TCDroogsma:

     I've been trying to figure out what the hype surrounding Lizzo is all about for a minute now.  I understood her role as the Left Eye to The Chalice's TLC.  That role seemed to be wearing thin with Grrl Party's "Wegula."  By the time she dropped "Batches And Cookies" (the brutal lead single from Lizzobangers), the buzz around Lizzo seemed inverse to the quality of work she was putting out.

    Unfortunately, "Bus Passes And Happy Meals" leaves me no closer to an answer.  Over an indifferent Lazerbeak beat Lizzo proceeds to drop couplets that range from cringe worthy ("I picketh thee off like a bug betwixt my shoe") to nonsensical ("Sudafed! Pop that. A hooligan! Step back") before spending the chorus letting us (them?) know that she's, "Burying ya'll alive."  She even fires a few shots at "haters," despite the fact that, as far as I can tell, she has nearly universal support in the Twin Cities.  Even her hypeman sounds bored by the proceedings.

     Perhap Lizzo's rise to is due to being an outsized personality in a hip-hop scene that was built around rappers who prided themselves on being "everyman" (the punk rock model) or maybe she's just the product of a city who will support anybody who calls the Twin Cities home (the insecure, Minnesota Nice model).  It's still kind of a mystery to me.

MinneSarah:

     Lizzo seems to have a lot of fun making music and performing it.  Her stage presence cannot be underestimated and that is clear in this song, even though we're just listening to it.  The beats are outstanding - Laerbeak does a great job showcasing, but not overpowering Lizzo's vocals.  "Bus Passes and Happy Meals" starts out with a spooky Western theremin which comes back for the chorus and the beats are steady throughout.  Lizzo's lyrics aren't serious - the subjects vary widely during the two and half minute song and every once in a while you can nod your head in solidarity over a particular gem of a statement.  As a newer introduction into the Twin Cities hip hop scene, Lizzo is making her place known - the rest of this new album will likely further cement her contribution to the hip hop scene. 

Final Score - TCDroogsma: 1.5/5
                               MinneSarah: 3.5/5

Well there you have it, MP3 junkies!  Another week's worth of songs downloaded, reviewed, & filed away!

As always, please keep in mind that neither Newest Industry nor our contributors are in any way affiliated with the artists above, The Current, or MPR.  We're just music fans with laptops and a bit too much time on our hands.

For more TCDroogsma be sure to give him a follow on Twitter (@TCDroogsma).  He can also be found right here on Newest Industry hosting our free weekly podcast Flatbasset Radio

For more MinneSarah be sure to give her a follow on Twitter (@MinneSarah).  She can also be found right here on Newest Industry filing reports out of St. Paul for our Big Day Out column




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Album Of The Week: November 4-10, 2013

My Album Of The Week for the week of November 4th-10th, 2013:

Mystery Palace - Sleepless

Mystery Palace is another of those local bands that I've been listening to for years via my Current Song Of The Day song rotation but I've never really dug any deeper than that.

They actually put out two EP's back in 2011, Sleepless and Nervio.  They had one song from each of these EP's given away via the podcast ("Caroline" and "Lose It All" respectively).  A couple years of stumbling and re-stumbling onto these songs and I decided that there's something more to these guys than the average synth-pop band.  They seem to rely a little bit less on the angular-dance side of things and more on the warm-poppy side.  The first week of November seems like the appropriate time to find out.

Both of those EP's are available as pay-what-you-like downloads on Mystery Palace's Bandcamp page.

Most Played Albums: October '13

My most played albums for the month of October, 2013:

via Last.fm