Another good case of the Mondays - this time I bring you something pretty good. Heidi Montag wants to release a Christian album! UsWeekly.com (yeah, I read it) reports:
"I have been the most religious person since I was 2 years old. I always felt this crazy connection to God," says Montag, who identifies herself as "kind of non-denominational Baptist."
On her sex tape scandal the budding Christian singer says:
"God knows the truth in all of this, and at the end of the day, that is the only thing that matters. Jesus was persecuted, and I'm going to get persecuted, ya know?"
Our favorite mash-up artist has released a new album Radiohead style. It's a "you name the price" type album, costing you from Zero- $10 Dollars. Go to this link to download GIRL TALK'S FEED THE ANIMALS
It's 14 hyperkinetic tracks feature hundreds of samples that jump around from Jay Z to Faith No More, Rick Springfeld to Rick Ross, MIA to Tag Team, Roy Orbison to Deee-Lite...it doesn't get any better than this!!
Last night, I attended the 48 Hour Film Awards to celebrate Rootin Tootin & the Rootin Tootin Gang (big ups to Nick & Kevin for winning best director!) The party was at the Annex downtown and was in attendance by a couple hundred filmmakers and A/V club alumni. We were all caught off guard by the opening musical act by a girl named Stacy B and her two dancers (couldn't have been over 17 and wearing only black bras and jeans.) WHO IS STACY B? Everyone wuz buzzin' (actually most people in the audience looked like this.) Well let me show you - you tube clip from an earlier performance:
With all the press on Amy Winehouse, I haven't thought it necessary to write about her here. But having just read Claire Hoffman's piece in Rolling Stone today, I can't help but bring her up. Listening to "Rehab" sounds different to me already - like listening to Nevermind after Kurt killed himself. She is a fleeting, explosive, destructive mess who couldn't have made Back To Black without being that way. She'll be here for a little while longer, and while she is, I'll spend my energy being appreciative that she is whatever she is. Here is a longer, better digestion of the article - in the meanwhile, Rehab:
Nick & I just interviewed Family Man and Elan from the Wailers tonight before their set at the Zoo. Stay tuned for their interview - we talked world hunger, their new album, reggae: past, present & future and finding yourself through one love.
Special thanks to Dr Kyle for sending us pics and a review of last Saturday's Rock The Garden.
If you like your rock and roll full of excess and anarchy, a concert that promises to start promptly at 4:30 p.m. and produce no trash might not sound like the event of the summer. Rock the Garden, a concert in celebration of the Walker Art Garden’s 20th anniversary and sponsored by local public radio station The Current, was touted by local media just as that.
Eau Claire, Wisconsin’s Bon Iver was the first act. I wasn’t sure his atmospheric folk would translate well to a large outdoor stage. The band got to rock out some in between vocal sections and the set slowly developed towards more up-tempo songs. I heard a few people singing along to “Skinny Love,” a song that has been getting heavy rotation at The Current. Bon Iver would be more suited to a dark, small club but the band admirably pulled off a very good show by understanding the venue and letting loose.
Local band Cloud Cult was next. The band is known for its ecological sensitivity that fit in well with the concept of a zero-waste event. The band usually puts on a tight, emotional show and this was no exception. On-stage artists were painting while songs from the last two albums were mixed in. “Take Your Medicine” continues to sound even better live than it does recorded.
By the time The New Pornographers started the sun had moved behind them --making it difficult to look towards the stage. The sound was muddy at first but did clear up through the set. The band didn’t play particularly well but when a band doesn’t know which members will show up for any particular show you don’t expect a well rehearsed gig. They played favorites from older albums as well as a few songs from their last disk.
Within two minutes of being onstage, Andrew Bird had bowed and plucked the violin, sang, whistled, and played guitar. He used a sampler heavily throughout the concert and with this played his first song solo. A drummer and guitarist joined him on stage for the second song. With the small band some memorable melodies from his recorded work were absent. The frequent sampling made many of the songs sound cold, and technical difficulties ensued later in his set. A new song sounded like Graceland-era Paul Simon with loops. The crowd cheered the song then voiced their displeasure at having the music stopped.
After this slow start, the remainder of the show went very well. Andrew Bird is an amazing whistler and multi-instrumentalist and he was able to overcome the previous problems to connect with the audience. He had one encore and closed the day with violin and whistling to ease people into the summer the night. The concert ended promptly at 10 pm.
For an outdoor concert the sound was quite good and I was amazed that each act started and ended on time. Though the music delivered, the venue didn’t offer the perfect Minnesota summer night.
Other then walking through the Walker or the SculptureGarden the location could have been any street in Minneapolis or St. Paul. Had they placed the stage at the other end of the street people wouldn’t have been staring into the sun and the background would have been the Basilica and the sky-line instead of condos.
The lines for the bathrooms were about 30 minutes by the time The New Pornographers started and the wait for any food was 45 minutes. People waited two hours for Chipotle burritos. It was easy to spend entire sets waiting in lines. Luckily, there were no lines for beer so many people just kept drinking their Summit on empty stomachs. I wouldn’t have been surprised to see people loot the burrito tent and urinate on sculptures, but nothing that rock-n-roll overtook the masses.
We've clearly got a case of the Mondays here at 10KBeats, so we'll continue the negative savagery until morale improves. If you just watched the Celine video below -- don't swallow that puke bubble yet!
Check out this "Top 100 Albums of the Last 25 Years" list compiled by Entertainment Weekly -- just another reason you should only get your musical taste from an indie source. Many worthy albums charted, and our local little lavendar boy tops it -- but this ought to have true music fans fuming through Friday. Have a glance, spit, repeat.
Total Guitar has given this little ditty courtesy of Madame Celine the honor of being the worst cover song ever. At least watch the first 30 seconds... her facial expressions alone are worth losing street cred points.
June 12 was just a dream. After spending considerable time figuring out how much bling was blingy enough (decided on gold bambi and grandma's charm bracelet) and applying coat after coat of red lipstick (the permanent kind, which I have found to be both a blessing and a curse), Nick & I drove to the Cabooze for our interview with Eugene Hütz. I had the advert for the Gogol Bordello concert on my bulletin board for over a month, and with a combination of anxiety and excitement, was really really looking forward to sharing the same space with my favorite band from the East.
Greeted by their tour manager, he escorted us through the outdoor stage and put us on their bus. One foot in and we were transported into what I can only describe is as if Wes Anderson wrote and directed Zoolander. Row upon row of traditional instruments and neon clothing layered the seats of the bus, with a handful of beautiful, international musicians warming up for the evening's festivities. They pointed us to a closed door at the back of the bus.
Sergey Ryabtsev, Yuri Lemeshev & Eugene were tucked in the back nook, playing guitar, violin and accordion, when Nick & I unknowingly interrupted them. After a brief hello, Eugene said, "Let's do this." Nick then opened his camera case and suddenly opened a cacophony of "fucks," "motherfuckers" and what I can only imagine to be more colorful curses in Russian. (It was explained to me once that there are much more satisfying words in Slavic languages.) Eugene believed we were doing a print interview, and was upset at the extra time and energy it would take to record it. Bless violinist Sergey, who put out the fire and left Nick & I alone, as Eugene splashed water on his face and put on a fabulous purple jacket and headband. As you can imagine, I was freaking out.
Eugene came back fresh as a daisy and gave us one hell of an interview. Without giving too much away- we talked Brazilian markets, Mehanata, and his appropriated porno business in Kiev. He sang “Soul Warrior,” and making me the happiest girl on the West Bank, kissed me on both cheeks. His mustache tickles. He also apologized profusely for getting upset in the beginning – Gogol Bordello was playing a Tom Waits set with Les Claypool the following day at Bonnaroo – they hadn’t learned any of the songs and we had crashed their first practice! Oops.
Les Claypool & Gogol Bordello at Bonnaroo:
Stay tuned for the interview and concert footage...
What a coincidence that I was shopping for neon nail polish in Uptown this afternoon when I got a call from Leif saying that MIA retired last weekend at Bonnaroo Festival in Tennessee.
She went out with an encore of Paper Planes alongside Nigerian rapper African Boy, and as quoted by the Nashville Edge,
“This is my last show, and I’m glad I’m spending it with all my hippies. Thanks for coming to my last gig.”
If this is more than a publicity stunt, I am really glad I saw her at the Myth a few months ago - she put on one hell of a show. And, as Leif said, "We still have Santogold."
The State Fair runs a close second to the Hall of North American Mammals at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, as my favorite place on earth. I have been to the Fair nearly every year I have been alive, and my mother & I follow a strict itinerary each time we attend. It, of course, includes lots of fried food, lots of beer, and the Amateur Talent Contest. In all 27 years of Fair fun, it has never included concerts I look forward to seeing all summer. This year, Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings, Gnarls Barkley, and the Black Keys are all playing the fairgrounds. Take that Lollapalooza!
With Perry Farrell's Lollapalooza HQ being Grant Park in Chicago the past few (and next few) years, many top-shelf bands that matter have been playing warm-up and cool-down gigs in Minneapolweird, as it's the nearest/hippest town down the road. Being a Lolla attendee yearly (look for the shirtless man in the sailor cap), I miss these shows -- past ones include Ween, Raconteurs, Gnarls Barkley -- but hope you non-traveling types can get a lick of the hot hot mess that is Palooza. Here are this year's Lolla Pop treats hitting the Twin Cities:
YOUNG WEEZY & NERD dropped new CD's on Tuesday!! They are on complete opposites of the hip hop spectrum...and they do not disappoint! Both albums leaked online weeks ago, but these are two artists I urge you to support! So go out there and buy their CD, or download from itunes you cheap bastards!
I've got this friend who makes me feel -- with his air guitar, he could win the Championship in Finland. Problem is, he thinks he it will shred his credibility in the landscape business. I assured him, the people attending at the Varsity Theater will not be the same people owning the strip malls you will be furnishing with foliage. I encouraged him to wear a mask and perform, as costumes have often overshadowed another competitor's superior performance, right, Bjorn Turoque? Well, here's to hoping I can get the shy closet Quadropheniac on the damn stage -- I'll arrest myself, I'll wear a shield...
I am midway through Rock n Roll High School for the first time in 4 years. Love it. Here is my favorite scene - haven't we all been in this frame of mind before?
Become a contributeror just tell us how you feel... We're strong, we can take it - Leif has enough scars for the three of us to prove it. Email us at mmtc@foxtv.com
