Conversation: Jeremy Warden Of Double Grave

(Double Grave by Tessa Loeffler)

(L to R: Seth Tracy, Bree Meyer, & Jeremy Warden)

Well hello everybody. Welcome to Flatbasset's first ever interview!

If you've been following the blog for the last couple of years (or even the last couple of days), you probably know that I'm a tremendous fan Minneapolis rock band Double Grave. Dating back to their early days as Ego Death I've been following their career and playing their songs on the podcast at every opportunity.

Just last Friday (4/27) they released the latest EP Empty Hands on Forged Artifacts (cassette) and Sad Cactus (7"). It's a straight-ahead ripper of a four song EP clocking in at just 10 minutes and I highly suggest you purchase it today and listen to it later today. To support Empty Hands the band is somehow mounting both a quick tour of the Midwest as well as holding down a residency at the Kitty Cat Klub each Tuesday in May beginning 4/1.

To mark the occasion I reached out to Double Grave singer/guitarist Jeremy Warden to see if he was interested in chatting a little bit about the new EP & the upcoming shows. He was kind enough to trade e-mails with me.

Flatbasset: How does it feel to have Empty Hands out in the world? Do you feel any nerves on release day?

Jeremy: It feels great! We took our time letting this out in the world, so, we definitely all feel relieved to finally show it to people. Release day wasn't so nerve wracking this time because we didn't have a show, our release show is two days from when I write this and I'm sure we'll all be a bit nervous then just hoping everyone has a good time and we play well, but we're mostly just excited and grateful about everything regardless. 

FB: Why did the band decide to release an EP rather than save the songs for a larger project?

JW: That's a good question! Mostly we just wanted to make a 7". It's just a band goal we had because we all enjoy the format and thought it'd be fun to make one of our own, something short and fun and loud. Our last record was sort of a slow burner, very melancholic and cold, and that was what we wanted but when we play live it's a bit more quick and noisy, so representing that side of us on a release also felt important moving forward.

FB: On a related note - Were the songs on Empty Hands written specifically with this specific project in mind?

JW: I think I answered this above but yup basically! Some other songs were written at around the same time but those will see their own release some future day probably.

FB: What was the impetus behind doing a dual release with Sad Cactus & Forged Artifacts?

JW: There are a few reasons I was excited about the dual release. Primarily, I genuinely admire what each label has been doing recently. This is our second release with Sad Cactus, they helped out with our last record and we have made some good friends through them, some of my favorite releases of recent years are from fellow cacti.

And I would say the same about Forged Artifacts, they had an incredible catalogue of music last year.

Sad Cactus is mostly an East Coast operation, which has been fun for us, but we also take a lot of pride in being from the Midwest, and I think Forged Artifacts is one of, if not the coolest Minnesota label, so I've wanted to work together for a while. Since we wanted to release the EP on two physical formats (7" & Cassette) I thought each label could take on one side of things and all together make something really exciting.

FB: Do you have a preferred medium for new music?

JW: Honestly I don't even know. Music is everywhere these days. I do love physical artifacts of music. I love to hold it in my hands and knowing that it's mine and I can listen to it whenever I want, it won't disappear off the internet or in a lost hard drive. And I appreciate the different effects formats have on music. Like, having listened to our EP on three formats, it's wild hearing how different each one sounds.

I started getting into tapes because my van has a tape player and that's my favorite place to listen to music, and tapes offer a certain power to DIY bands that I appreciate, because of their cost and compact size. In my life though, the biggest sign of appreciation for a record is buying the LP if that exists. CDs are cool, but, I just always break them somehow. But let's be real I mostly stream stuff on Youtube and Bandcamp.

FB: Lyrically, with a few exceptions, the songs on Empty Hands are more personal than political? Do you ever have to fight the urge to get political or is that just not something that seeps into your songwriting?

JW: To me Empty Hands feels political in a sort of ambiguous way. But you're right we're not an overtly political band. This EP is more about feeling lost and doubting yourself than anything else. I've mostly written about feelings and questions and haven't tried to spread any sort of message. I have a hard time being really direct in lyrics, in terms of a specific political point. I feel that it locks the song in a time and place, and if a song is going to live a long life with people, it has to be relevant over time.

That said I feel like at this time the world is on a dangerous edge, and I want to use this privileged platform of playing music to speak to that and help insight change more so now than in the past, but I think I'll always end up speaking broadly about things, even if there is a deeper political intent. 

FB: Empty Hands is a brisk 4-song-in-10-minutes release that has its hooks front-and-center. Some past Ego Death/Double Grave material ("Sunlight/Graveyard," "Deceiver," the coda of "Truth Is Whatever You Say") sound more like band exploring new sounds or trying new structures. Do you ever find yourself writing songs and thinking, "No, this doesn't sound like a Double Grave song" or do you just write what strikes you and run it through the DG ringer?

JW: I try to finish most songs I start writing, but, easier said than done. I can take a long time to feel right about a song. There have been some songs that I've written and we've worked out and played together for a while and then abandoned, mostly because they didn't feel like a step forward, they didn't feel like growth. Maybe once we're actually playing it together it lacks a certain energy or it feels too familiar already, or like we're trying too hard at something and missing the mark, and so we decide to spend our time on something else.

I tend to think of writing in batches, anticipating releases, so we'll often think of songs in relation to each other and hold them up to a similar critique stylistically. Empty Hands was fast and loud, New Year's Daydream was moody and darker, for example.

FB: How did this Kitty Cat Klub residency come about? Was it something the band sought out or was it an idea presented to you?

JW: We asked the Kitty Cat Klub if we could do it and they said yes. That venue was like our first home. When we started a few years ago they let us play there so often, it's where we found ourselves in a way, so we thought it'd be fun to celebrate there again. This is actually our third release event there now that I think about it.

FB: This residency is a bit atypical in that the band has constructed a tour of the Midwest around the first couple of residency dates. How did that come about? Do you find think the structure of powering through a quick tour, spending a day or two back home, and hitting the road again to be ideal or would you kind of prefer to go into "tour more" and just become road warriors for month?

JW: The tour on top of the residency just kind of happened. We planned the residency, and knew we wanted to tour on the new release too. We realized that June and July would be harder months to tour because of personal schedules, and at the same time our label mates Tundrastomper wanted to come out this way in May and play together, so we just went for it!

Quick tours are fun and pretty easy in that you know you'll be home soon and you're not that far away should anything go wrong. Also for this tour we're mostly going places we've been a few times and we get to see a lot of friends which is obviously super fun. That said, short runs mostly just whet my appetite for longer tours, personally.

FB: Bluntly, do you enjoy being out on the road? It seems that some bands romanticize the road life while others treat it as an exercise in endurance (both mentally & physically).

JW: Between the three of us the feelings on touring vary but generally we all enjoy it. I for one really like to tour. I never traveled much before we started touring, so that's fun, and it also shrinks your world in a way I love. You only have a few things to worry about (barring unforeseen setbacks which are bound to happen) and one of them is playing music, and seeing how music lives in other places, and connecting with cool people.

I also feel really fortunate regarding our dynamic. We're best friends, truly. We all care about each other and understand each other's personalities and needs without much effort or any drama, and I feel like that makes a big difference, it allows things to get easier and easier rather than more strenuous.

FB: How was the lineup for the residency chosen? Was the band able to curate it 100%?

JW: We joyfully hand picked every last act.
 

FB: Was there anybody you hoped would be able to play but just couldn't make it work?

JW: Sure, booking is rarely very simple. Every performer on the bill is fantastic though, and pretty much everyone is a friend as well, so, it's gonna be great.

FB: Lastly, and this is kind of a big, open-ended question: We've had great venues close lately (The Triple Rock, Reverie) and new venues step up (Mortimer's, Eagles Club) to fill the void. There's still a tremendous amount of great music coming from Minneapolis & St. Paul with new band popping up all the time and bands like Double Grave, Straya, The Florists, Royal Brat really growing into their sound, but it seems like things are in a state of flux right now. Broadly, what's your take on the indie rock scene in the Twin Cities?

JW: That's a wild question. I think the TC scene is always in flux really. It's very different now from when I first moved here to start playing. But I think music is just always changing the way it fits into the world, and at an increasingly rapid rate. Things do seem somewhat amorphous here right now, but maybe that's just my vantage point because places we used to play and bands we used to play with are gone, but, like you said there's new stuff happening all the time! We're still playing new places and meeting new people all the time.

The Twin Cities sometimes feels like an overgrown garden of music to me. There is so much going on right now, and everyone is just so active, it's like the city isn't big enough for it all. Or we don't know what to do with it. Pretty much every time I go to a local show I'm just floored by how great my peers' music it, I'll go weeks just listening to friends' music. So, despite things always changing, I don't feel like the music scene here is in any kind of danger, if anything it has yet to explode.

FB: Thanks for chatting with me, Jeremy.

Double Grave Kitty Cat Klub Residency:

5/1 - w/Tact & Products
5/8 - w/Tundrastomper & Straya
5/15 - w/Wetter & The Cult Of Lip
5/22 - w/Halftramp & The Florists
5/29 - w/Bathtub Cig & Hemma

Empty Hands is out now:

Cassette via Forged Artifacts
7" via Sad Cactus
Digitally via Bandcamp
 

I can be found on this big terrible internet on Twitter (@TCDroogsma).  Previous episodes of Flatbasset Radio are archived on my Mixcloud page.  Stop by Flatbasset Radio's Facebook Page & give it a "Like" if you have the time.

Album Of The Week: August 25th-31st, 2014

Flatbasset Radio's Album Of The Week for the week of August 25th-31st, 2014:

Franz Diego - Equinox

01. Neo-Archaic
02. Purple City Pioneers (PCP)
03. New Era
04. We Feel
05. Zebra Party

For the second week in a row here at Flatbasset Radio I'm dipping into the Twin Cities hip-hop scene.  Unlike spending last week with relative newcomer Manny Phesto I spent this week with Twin Cities veteran Franz Diego's latest EP Equinox.

If you've done even the minimum amount of digging below the surface of the Twin Cities' hip-hop scene you've inevitably stumbled onto Franz Diego in some capacity or another.  He's a member of scene veterans Illuminous 3, host of the Turnt Up! dance party at Honey, frequent collaborator with fellow Twin Cities rappers, and all-in-all man about town.  If you care at all about the hip-hop scene he's basically inescapable (which I mean as a compliment).

The Equinox EP came out back in the first week of June, but I'm finally spending a week with it.  That actually worked out well since the album is meant to be heard in the summer and, considering the mild temps we've seen this summer, listening to it during a week when we broke 90 made sense.

Producer Xanja constructed the beats for the record, keeping the songs moving without attempting to make a "banger" or resorting to exhausted faux-trap sound (with the saxophone on "New Era" the highlight of his production).  He does a brilliant job of giving the album enough space to breathe that Diego is able to find the style he wants to use rather than having the beat dictate the flow.



To that end, Equinox features something that I'm really growing to love as a I get older: the perspective of older rappers.  While Franz Diego's not "old" by any definition of the word, he's been in Minneapolis long enough and seen enough things to know what's worth worrying about and what isn't.  Where Manny Phesto's album carried a youth-aided carefree air, Equinox is carefree because Diego's wise enough to know not to worry about things he can't change.  He spends the majority of the record representing his hometown and the scene that's given him a voice.  I suppose there's only so much that can be said over (and about) a sixteen minute long EP, and thankfully Diego doesn't try to force five separate ideas into the mix.  The goal of Equinox seems to be to have a good time and that's exactly what Franz Diego & Xanja delivered.

If you'd like to let the album soundtrack this last week off August for yourself, head over to Franz Diego's Bandcap page.  Equinox is available as a "Name Your Price" download.

Album Of The Week: August 18th-24th, 2014

Flatbasset Radio's Album Of The Week for the week of August 18th-24th, 2014:

Manny Phesto - Southside Looking In

01. Reality Check
02. Cedar Ave
03. The Account (w/Mike The Martyr)
04. Rooftops Interlude
05. Eternity In The Cities
06. Standards (w/Metasota)
07. HI LAKE (w/Axel Foley)
08. Goodnight Moon Interlude
09. Full Scope (w/Akrite)
10. To The Sea
11. Rabbit Hole (w/Greg Grease)
12. Fork In The Road
13. Rigamarole
14. Before The Storm
15. Outro

Truth be told I'm actually a week late naming Southside Looking In my AOTW.   I actually spent the entirety of last week with it.  Fortunately, writing this post after spending a week with an album as opposed to while I'm spending time with it has given me a bit more time to digest the record.

Let me tell you, this one only gets better with more spins.  Manny Phesto's rhymes & Mike The Martyr's beats make Southside Looking In a perfect, laid back summer album.

A lot of recent albums from the Twin Cities hip-hop scene have stuck to sparse, downbeat production while rappers vent either anger, confusion, or a sense of surprised contentedness.  While those sort of practical emotions are undeniably Midwestern in nature, Manny Phesto & Mike The Martyr seem to have decided it's time for a bit of a celebration.  Mike The Martyr brings a sturdy set of beats that sound like they've been influenced equally by RZA & Kanye's early "chipmunk soul" sound.  In fact, the only real break in the beats are the interludes, otherwise Martyr continues to do his thing throughout without throwing in the token "slow song" or "banger."  It's just consistently excellent, good time beats.

Manny Phesto matches that energy with a collection of verses that stick to the positives of life.  He spends a majority of the record enjoying his hometown and his friends.  Now, this being an album from a Minnesotan, it couldn't be all party time raps.  However, when Manny Phesto does take a break from the positivity, he still manages to crib his concerns in a mostly positive outlook.  His problems are weighing on him, but he seems confident that they'll be solved before they become overwhelming.

With Southside Looking In, it seems that Manny Phesto & Mike The Martyr have taken up the torch from local legends Kanser.  It's mostly positivity here, and even when the clouds turn grey, the focus is on the silver lining rather than the rain.

Southside Looking In is available as a "Name Your Price" download over on Manny Phesto's Bandcamp page.  I highly suggest you pick it up and give it a spin.  Especially if you have a car.  Or enjoy BBQ's.  Or just need a dose of positivity.

Album Of The Week: July 21st-27th, 2014

Flatbasset Radio's Album Of The Week for the week of July 21st-27th, 2014:

Allan Kingdom - Future Memoirs

01. Souls
02. Moderation
03. Wavey (w/Spooky Black)
04. Evergreens
05. Famines
06. Imposters
07. Positive
08. Etiquette
09. Work Me Over
10. Context
11. Damn
12. Observe

If you've been following the Twin Cities hip-hop scene over the last year there's no doubt you've heard Allan Kingdom's name.  Going back to his previous album (and previous AOTW appearance) Talk To Strangers, Kingdom's been on the fast track to prominence in a scene that's been embracing plenty of new blood lately.

Future Memoirs picks up where Kingdom left off on Talk To Strangers.  He's still rapping over murky, keyboard heavy beats in a sing-song style that shares the same stage with Young Thug & Chance The Rapper.  The major difference is that, where Young Thug is the extension of the Andre 3000/Trap world of his native Atlanta and Chance sings to find his own sunshine in Chicago's notoriously cold hip-hop scene, Kingdom brings an natural Minnesota style to his songs.  He doesn't necessarily aim too high in his songs.  Instead he sticks to the small things in life.  He appreciates a good woman.  He debates going back to school.  He's concerned about the racial issues in his city while shouting it out at the same time.  When it comes down to it, Kingdom's very much an everyman despite his age.  He's hoping for the best while making sure that the worst doesn't come.

Future Memoirs is a fine record considering it's the first album Kingdom's put out that came with any expectations.  All things considered, it feels like a stepping stone.  I don't know what Kingdom's got planned after this one, but I believe he's yet to make his big move.  Until then, head over to his Bandcamp page and grab both Talk To Strangers & Future Memoirs.  Enjoy the journey now and it'll make that big moment all the more sweeter when it comes.

Album Of The Week: June 30th-July 6th, 2014

Flatbasset Radio's Album Of The Week for the week of June 30th-July 6th, 2014:

Dichotomy - Subterranean

01. Subterranean
02. Tony Montana
03. Brand New
04. Sleepwalk
05. It Comes And Goes
06. Save The Frame
07. Railways
08. Cinder Blocks
09. June Gloom
10. Switch
11. Iscoceles
12. Vial

I decided to check out Dichotomy's album Subterranean for a couple of reasons.  First off, I'm friend of a friend a member of the band and, seeing as how the record is starting to gain some legit traction, the least I could do is spend some time with it.  Second, after spending the past couple of weeks with shimmering indie rock (The Starfolk, Rogue Valley), it was time to switch it up.

In that regard, Subterranean definitely delivered.  Coming into the week I knew that the album would be a mixture of live instruments & computerized flourishes, but I wasn't quite prepared for the way Subterranean plays out.  The first half of the album skews a bit heavier than I'm a fan of.  Most of the album's vocals turn up in this first half and, in conjunction with some aggressive drums/guitar work, they imply somebody who first got into music as a teenager via 93X (no great sin, by the way. I got into music via 93.7 The Edge. Just looking for a comparable here.).

However, the second half of the album is where Dichotomy really plays to their strengths.  The vocals are scaled way back and the aggressiveness of the songs, while still present, aren't nearly as constant.  Tracks like "Cinder Blocks" & "Switch" show a band with a real grasp of pacing.  Each song breathes, allowing the beats, pianos, and wayward guitar lines their time to shine.  There's a lot of nice work being done on Subterranean's second half.  Hopefully it's a harbinger of things to come from Dichotomy.

If you'd like to check out Subterranean for yourself head over to Dichotomy's Bandcamp page where the album is available as a "Name Your Price" download.

Album Of The Week: April 21st-27th, 2014

My Album Of The Week for the week of April 21st-27th, 2014:

Oaks - Field Beat

01. All Mine
02. Dreaming Arrows
03. Field Beat
04. Clouds
05. Falls
06. Some Of Them Do

I'll be honest, I know pretty much nothing about Oaks.   I took a walk down to Extreme Noise last week to film a bit with Ryan for Newest Industry (a bit that was, sadly, lost when my memory card became full halfway through).  As I've mentioned before, I have a real weakness for checking out the "Local" section anytime I'm in a record store.  On a whim I picked up Field Beat because it was described as "shoegaze" and because it was only 6 songs long which, let's be honest, is the perfect length for a shoegaze record.

Thanks to the internet I've learned that Oaks consists of husband & wife duo Jim Kolles & Erica Krumm.  You may know Krumm as the lead singer/guitarist for the band Sharp Teeth or, if you're like me, you may not.

Field Beat is, I suppose, a shoegaze album.  There's loud, buzzsaw guitars that come in waves.  There's heavy basslines.  There's a drum machine.  All the "shoegaze" boxes are checked off.  Fortunately, Krumm's vocals elevate the whole record, coming through clear and with a minimum of effects.  If you subtracted a bit of the punk edge from BNLX or the electronics from Wiping Out Thousands you'd have Oaks.  The songs here are thorough, heavy, and consistently excellent (with the exception of "Some Of Them Do," which is just feedback).  Field Beat is just the kind of record I hope to find when I go plunging into the "Local" section.

If you're so inclined, Field Beat is available as a "Name Your Price" download over at Oaks Bandcamp page. I strongly suggest that you be inclined.

Album Of The Week: April 14th-20th, 2014

My Album Of The Week for the week of April 14th-20th, 2014:

Edison - No Three Men Make A Tiger

01. Init.
02. If You're Going To Say Nothing, Say Yo A Few Times First
03. A Fortune Gone To Hashed Kids
04. I Don't Know Tim, I'm Not The Loudest Guy At The Fuck You Contest
05. Reporting Live From The Wellspring Of Opinions And Lost Buttons
06. The True Story Of Baron Vonfeedreader (w/Shannon Harney)
07. Think Occasionally Of The Uploading, Of Which You Spare Yourself The Sight
08. All The Starving Artists, Eating Their Own Hands
09. Waiting In Line To Meet Steve At The Crossroads, At Midnight
10. Make Noise Not Marketing
11. Pander Junkies
12. Don't Tell Us What We're Doing, We Don't Want To Know
13. The Disgusted Briefcase (w/Babel Fishh)
14. Alexander The Great Genre Switching Soulsuck
15. Eye Teeth And Egos

If you've been following the blog for a while you should already be pretty familiar with Edison.  I've written about him several times here and played him several times on the Flatbasset Radio podcast.  I wrote about his last album, No Sun No Food, last July when it was also an Album Of The Week.  The album was so great that it eventually took the crows as my most played album of 2013.

If you haven't been following along, here's the bullet points.  Edison is a beatmaker out of the Bay Area.  Up until No Sun No Food he was known for making beats that were dense, manic, and yet still melodic.  He switched up the game last year on No Sun No Food, making an exquisitely laid back album that was still clearly the work of the same artists.

So here we have No Three Men Make A Tiger.  I've only listened to it a couple of times, but I think it's safe to say that this is a middle ground between his manic earlier work and his new found sense of pacing.  It's a much harder, busier album than No Sun No Food, yet it no longer feels quite as busy.  Where his early albums felt like you were riding around in a taxi who's driver was mixing adderall & vodka, No Three Men Make A Tiger is a great strolling record.  No Sun No Food was a great strolling album as well, but that album felt like a summer stroll through the park.  No Three Men... has a darker edge to it.  Like strolling through that same park at 3 AM as a storm's blowing in to town.  Obviously I highly recommend it.

If you'd like to check it out it's available as a "Name Your Price" download on Edison's Bandcamp page.  Seriously, pick it up. Pick up No Sun No Food while you're at it.  And then, once you've grabbed those, follow this link to 900 Bats and pick up the Free Willy beat tape.  Then you'll be set for summer.

Album Of The Week: March 17th-23rd, 2014

My Album Of The Week for the week of March 17th-23rd, 2014:

The Miami Dolphins - Capri Sun

01. Pink Bird
02. Minted Slime
03. Hissing Priss
04. Doodler
05. Dominion
06. Venice Beach Widowed
07. Chaste

The Miami Dolphins are one of those bands that have been living around the periphery of my awareness for a while now.  For reasons I'm not totally sure of I haven't checked them out until now.

On its first few spins, Capri Sun seems to be a charmingly ramshackle punk album.  If you're going to put out a record that jams 7 songs into a mere 9 minutes, there's really only two ways to go: be super tight or super energetic (or, I suppose, both).  Unlike last week's AOTW, Cave (which built its sound on a lock-step rhythm), The Miami Dolphins build their sound on pure energy.  Yes, it's sloppy, but that's kind of the point.  I'd be shocked to learn that any of these songs was given a second take in the studio.

Capri Sun (which my Minnesotan accent pronounces as "Caaapri Sun") should be an entertaining listen over the course of the week.  It's been my experience over the years that albums like this tend to reveal their borders & base ideas with repeated listens.  Right now, it sounds like a 9 minute song with several tempo changes and not much else.  Come Sunday I'm sure the hooks will be rattling around in my head.

This record came out back in the summer of 2012.  The band is set to release a new album this summer, so swing by their Bandcamp page to get caught up on the story so far.

Album Of The Week: March 10th-16th, 2014

My Album Of The Week for the week of March 10th-16th, 2014:

Mrs. - Cave

01. Cave
02. Yawn
03. Jillions
04. Supple
05. Tissues
06. Throb
07. Wad

First off, let me apologize for not writing this post earlier.  Typically I like to get these posted at the start of the week, but I've been tied up with real life jobs for the last week.  This album, however, has soundtracked the week, so let's get to it.

I know almost nothing about Mrs.  I found out about this record when somebody (I think it was one of the guys in Human Kindness) tweeted about it last week.  Having spent the previous week with Medium Zach's excellent Valued Input EP, I was ready to spend the week with some guitars.

Fortunately, Mrs. have guitars to spare.  Cave is part math rock, part boogie, and a thoroughly enjoyable listen.  Imagine if Antelope decided they were going to write sex jams.  That's Cave.  Each song catches a groove, plows forward, and delivers sneaky good hooks and solid performance.  While there's no genuine standout track (though "Yawn" is probably going to make an appearance on the podcast soon), there's no let down either.  Just 28 minutes of deconstructed, over-sexed math rock.

Cave is a available as a "Name Your Price" download over on Mrs. Bandcamp page. I suggest giving it a spin.

Album Of The Week: February 24th-March 2nd, 2014

My Album Of The Week for the week of February 24th-March 2nd, 2014:

The Van Gobots - Guantanamo Beach Party

01. Walk On Water
02. So Wrong
03. If It Moves Then Shoot It
04. Mickey Finn
05. Colorado
06. Proud Mother's Son
07. Any Means Of Destruction
08. The Ghost
09. Hostile Contender

Taking a little trip in the way-back machine for this one.

I'd heard the name The Van Gobots kicking around the Twin Cities for a while now, but hadn't really heard any of their work until they teamed up with Homeless for the album Twenty-Dirt (itself an AOTW back in December).  In my write-up for that album I wrote:

"In place of a producer on Twenty-Dirt, Homeless collaborated with The Van Gobots (@TheVanGobots).  I'd be lying if I said I was super-familiar with their work prior to Twenty-Dirt, but that may be for the best in this instance.  The band works up a nice post-punk racket for Homeless' rhymes.  Because I'm not familiar with their other work, it's possible for me to listen to these songs without wondering what they would have become without the restraint of the tracks being a canvas rather than the stand-alone art.  It's certainly enough to make me want to check out more of their work."

Well, here we are a few months later and, spurred by the band giving me a follow on Twitter, I think it's probably time to start digging in.  Guantanamo Beach Party came out back in 2009 and, based on what I've read, is the band's mostly widely known album.  I've only listened to it once so far, but I was surprised by what I heard.  On Twenty-Dirt the band plays fast and loose with the post-punk sound.  On GBP, the songs are much tighter and streamlined.  There's even a hint of soul music behind the rattle.  Here's hoping it continues to reveal itself over the course of the week.

If you'd like to check out Guantanamo Beach Party yourself, head over to The Van Gobots Bandcamp page where it's available as a "Name Your Price" download.

Album Of The Week: February 10th-16th, 2014

My Album Of The Week for the week of February 10th-16th, 2014:

Minor Kingdom - Singles

01. Timebomb
02. Perfect
03. Wild
04. Crazy Charlie
05. Choir Of The Lilies (w/Haley Bonar)

This one was probably a long time coming.  My Last.fm homepage has had Minor Kingdom under my "Recommendations" for quite some time now.  Figured this week was as good as any to finally give it a shot.

According to Minor Kingdom's Bandcamp page:

"Minor Kingdom was born in a Minneapolis bedroom in the fall of 2007. What started as a solo recording outlet for frontman and songwriter Kristian Melom quickly grew to a collaborative platform, housing over twenty rotating members. The group fuses elements of post-rock, folk, and blues to create an eclectic genre they can call their own."

That page also contains the tags "alternative," "indie rock" & "folk."  Now, I tend to steer clear of things labeled "folk" most of the time, but after spending the last couple of weeks with Marijuana Deathsquads & Psymun, folk sounds like a nice change of pace.  Plus, folk music usually benefits from repeated listens, so spending a week with Singles seems like a pretty good jumping off point for me.

Singles seems to be just that, a collection of singles.  As such, each song seems to have been written to stand on its own.  What the EP may lack in continuity, I'm hoping it will make up for in quality.  I mean, why would you gather up five songs and release it as Singles if they weren't five of your best songs?

Anyway, the EP is available as a "Name Your Price" download on that aforementioned Bandcamp page.  Stop by and give it a listen if you're so inclined.

Album Of The Week: Decemberr 23-29, 2013

My Album Of The Week for the week of December 23rd-29th, 2013:

Wild Ghosts - No Coast

A couple of weeks back I was writing about The Persian Leaps and mentioned how nice it was to hear a band that eschewed making a racket for front-and-center vocals.  Well, after spending that week with The Persian Leaps (and the subsequent two with Allan Kingdom & Homeless), I figured I'd spend a week with somebody who puts racket first.

I can't remember exactly how I found out about Wild Ghosts.  It was definitely a case of falling down a Last.fm or Bandcamp Recommendations wormhole.  Regardless, I somehow stumbled onto their Bandcamp page and decided to give No Coast a chance.

Wild Ghosts is a rough listen the first few times.  Coherent vocals are difficult to pick up until the fifth song and, once that ends, they're rarely heard from again.  The band works its way into grooves that are not readily apparent, which is why Wild Ghosts makes for such a perfect AOTW record.  I'm really hoping that, over the course of a week, the ideas buried somewhere in the reverb & organ & feedback are going to show themselves.

Album Of The Week: December 9-15, 2013

My Album Of The Week for the week of December 9th-15th, 2013

Allan Kingdom - Talk To Strangers

Talk To Strangers is another album that I downloaded after checking out Erik Thompson's excellent 10 Twin Cities Acts Who Deserve To Be Famous column.  Though, I should note that this wasn't the first time I'd come across Allan Kingdom's name, it was the first time it was the first time I said, "Oh yeah, I gotta check that out."  Thanks to Erik Thompson (or his editors) for putting the link to Kingdom's Bandcamp page in the column.

As such, click on Allan Kingdom's Bandcamp to check out Talk To Strangers for yourself at whatever price you see fit.

I'm excited to spend the week with Talk To Strangers because, frankly, I need to hear more new voices in the Twin Cities hip-hop community (and I say that with all the love possible for the old voices I've been listening to for years).


After a couple of spins, Talk To Strangers makes for an interesting listen because Kingdom doesn't seem to be straining himself to fit in with the hipster set, which is refreshing, but he's also not presenting any sort of myth-building version of himself.  Honestly, he just sounds like a dude who's rapping over some laid back beats because it's fun to just kick back and rap over some laid back beats.  Definitely a welcome change of pace.

If you're interested in checking Kingdom out in person, he's part of a lengthy list of artists playing First Avenue on Saturday, February 15th for the release of the 5th The Best Love Is Free compilation.  Gotta believe that's a show worth checking out.

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.

Album Of The Week: October 21-27, 2013

My Album Of The Week for the week of October 21st-27th, 2013:

Holographic Sands - House Ghost

A few weeks back MinneSarah I reviewed a song called "Take Off" by Holographic Sands for Songs Of The Week #60 over on Newest Industry.  MinneSarah is a bigger fan of this than I am.  Where she heard, "elements of the sixties garage rock and country pop that influenced the whole of American pop for years to come,"  I heard just a straight take on that old Buddy Holly-type rock & roll.

However, as I've learned repeatedly (most recently with Speed's The Name's No Planets Exist), just because I don't like one song by a band doesn't mean I won't like the band.  I headed over to Holographic Sands Bandcamp page just to find out a little more about the band and ended up downloading this House Ghost EP.

I gave it a spin a couple of days ago and it appears Holographic Sands and I may have gotten off on the wrong foot.  This EP has a less produced sound, but more importantly, is delightfully skewed, at times sounding like one of Frank Black's more laid-back efforts (think Honeycomb).  At the very least this is worth spending a week with.

Album Of The Week: October 14-20, 2013

My Album Of The Week for the week of October 14th-20th, 2013:

Citroën - Anachronaut

I'm spending a week with this one on a bit of a whim.

I found about Citroën because they were kind enough to follow Newest Industry on Twitter.  Here's how they described themselves in their Twitter bio:

"We write songs for lost cosmonauts, lonely mathematicians, and handsome fishmongers."

While I'm far too dumb to understand space, mathematics, or the intricacies of fishmongering (hell, I'm not even certain how to pronounce "Citroën"I did follow a link to their Bandcamp page and found Anachronaut as a "Name Your Price" download.  It's got a nice post-punk vibe to it.  If nothing else, at least give the song "Terminal Bliss" a listen.

Album Of The Week: July 15-July 21, 2003

My Album Of The Week for the week of July 15^th-July 21^st, 2013:

Edison – No Sun No Food

For those of you unfamiliar with Edison, he's a producer out of San Francisco. His previous records were filled with busy, percussion heavy beats that seemed to thrive on a this-could-go-off-the-rails-at-any-point energy.

I first found out about Edison via Aesop Rock's blog 900 Bats. Edison posted a handful of roughly half-hour-long beat tapes to the blog and gave them away for free (his Free Willy tape is a stone cold classic in my book). Those tapes tended to swing between very energetic, hook heavy moments and slow-burn sections seamlessly. They're the kind of tapes that are perfect for walking around while the snow falls.

Anyway, hopefully most people here in the Twin Cities know Edison from the split EP he did with Lazerbeak titled Kill Switch. In fact, give this video for “A Cure For A Case Of The Wealthies” for a good example of what Edison sounds like:

Now, the reason I'm excited to spend a week with No Sun No Food is that on this album Edison completely stayed away from the faster, busier moments and focused solely on the slower & moodier side of his sound. I hate to use the term “downbeat” to describe No Sun No Food, because it's not a depressing record by any stretch. If anything, it's just a more relaxed, content version of Edison's sound. It's a laid-back, summertime album.

There aren't a lot of artists that can change up their sound and end up with an album that stands up on its own. Some of my favorite (and therefore best) artists have tried and failed, ending up with albums that stand up only from a, “Huh, isn't this curious?” perspective. No Sun No Food has a lot more going for it than that “Huh?” response.

Anyway, Edison posted it on his Bandcamp page as a Pay-What-You-Want and I strongly suggest that you head over and grab a copy. Perfect “Summer Of 2013” type of record.