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Flashback: Asobi Seksu at the 7th Street Entry, Minneapolis (09 Oct 2009)

Setlist New Years Strawberries Meh No Mae Layers Me & Mary Nefi + Girly In the Sky Thursday Familiar Light Transparence Red Sea -- Encore -- Strings Read More Asobi Seksu I’m sure I don’t need to remind Asobi Seksu fans that the band’s name roughly translates as “fun sex,” so I won’t, even though I did. Teeny tiny Yuki (small singer night!) is Asian (obvious) and they all call New York home. So, sexy name + Asian singer Loney, Dear I had previously seen Loney, Dear (Yes, it’s “Loney,” not “Lonely.” Sorry, Spellcheck.) at Soundfix Lounge, a far more smaller, intimate venue. It was a lovely show, but I wondered if it would translate well into the much bigger Music Hall of Williamsburg. Anna Ternheim It's been a year since I briefly mention Anna Ternheim, but I am very excited to let you know that the Swedish singer's latest album, Leaving on a mayday will be available in the US, finally, on August 11th (I think the album is already available in her home country).

This was mostly a Swedish show, headlined by shoegaze Asobi Seksu at the tiny 7th Street Entry. I remember that I was really happy how the photos turned out for this show. Around this time, I think I was using an Olympus 4/3 camera.

>>>
Anna Ternheim was the only artist that we haven't reviewed live, so I was quite excited to see her. Although she's not that well-known in the States, she's quite famous in her home country of Sweden (having won both "Best Female Artist" and "Album of the Year" on the Swedish Grammy). So for her to tour here, at very intimate settings, is such a boon. In fact, there was a group of Swedish fans (like six of them) who visited Minneapolis just to see Anna in such a small venue.

Ternheim's "band" was basically stolen from Loney Dear (we'll get to him later). They adapted well to playing (and backup singing) her songs. My favorite from the set was, of course, "What Have I Done". This song feature this distinctive violin, which was replicated by pre-recording, so no live violas on stage.

So embarrassingly enough, I only had a brief chance to play around with the Pen camera's setting. At the show, for Anna Ternheim, I could not figure out how to change my shutter speed and ISO settings. Thanks to Erik who looked it up to tell me that the up/down/left/right d-pad doubles as a wheel! Who knew?

The only thing I savaged out of Ternheim is this video of her performing "Let It Rain", which includes the lyrics that would inspired the title of her latest album, Leaving on a mayday.

Loney Dear

The same band that played for Ternheim came back for Emil Svanängen, aka Loney Dear. Loney has been doing this musician for a while now. You can just tell, the way he handles himself on the stage and the way he manipulate his audience - yes, he made the audience do that "na-na-na-na" chorus from "The Meter Marks OK".

Compared to Ternheim's set Loney's set was much longer, or at least it felt more like a full set. To be honest, it seems that Loney could continue to play for another hour. He kept asking the soundguy (who was probably with the touring bands as it was not the typical staff guy) if they could have four more minutes to play one more song.

I read that Asobi Seksu's Yuki was small, but wow, she's really small. Sometime, I think the loud noise of guitar, bass, drums, and effects, drowns out Yuki's voice. So, combined with my already damaged hearing, I could not make out what she's singing about. Something about cats and strawberries and rain or something.

While this may be attributed to the fact that they were already late on arriving at 7th Street, due to some detours driving from Vancouver, Canada, which resulted in no soundcheck, I just think the band is normally loud when played live.

Setlist

One thing I will mention is that the band is incredibly hard to shoot, due to poor lighting, because they wanted to emphasis on their own line of blue lights and strobes effect lights and combined with Yuki's hair-in-face and/or looking away.

They started off with "New Years", a Japanese song that's been a staple of their intro song since 2006. They played "Thursday", which I know a few people liked, and for the finale, Yuki took over the drumming-action on "Red Sea". The final song was ridden with all-out strobe light city. It's very cool effects when you see them on stage, blinking in and out, but yeah, not so much for photosensitive epilepsy people.

This is one of the best bill for a band I've seen in a while, so it's definitely worth it to see them all together.

PS, Stay tuned for Kate G's update on Asobi Seksu when they arrive in New York on the 16^th of October.

Asobi Seksu at the 7th Street Entry, Minneapolis (09 Oct 2009) photo by Vu

vu (vu@weheartmusic.com) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ facebook.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic

Pair of Knives

Read More The Knife The Knife is a pretty electronic duo (Karin Dreijer Andersson and Olof Dreijer) from Sweden, who I've previously briefly mentioned their Christmas Raindeer song. ...

THE KNIFE
theknife.net

Undoubtedly, Sweden’s The Knife’s biggest hit record is Silent Shout, which we previously mentioned won six Swedish Grammies in 2006. And as you know, the album is one of our favorite albums and described it as, “mostly beats and electronic, Dreijer Andersson does lend her vocals on 99% of their songs - at least from what I've heard on their 2006 album Silent Shout. If you happen to get the limited-edition version of this album, it comes with a bonus live disc - featuring one of their best-known song, "Heartbeats" done live.”

As part of the electronic duo’s 20th anniversary celebration, we are getting a Silent Shout audio-visual experience on May 14, 2021 (that’s tomorrow!), at 2pm Eastern via the band’s YouTube channel.

Expect to see footage for their audio/visual event from their 2006 hometown live performance at Trädgår'n in Gothenburg, Sweden… and also expect to hear many songs from their critically acclaimed Silent Shout album.

If that wasn’t enough, the record will be reissued in dark blue double vinyl on August 20, via Rabid Records.

HOT KNIVES
facebook.com/HotKnivesWorld

Making Love To Make Music To Make Love To is the debut album from Brooklyn psych trio Hot Knives. The record is available on all streaming services (since its release on May 7, 2021), including their lead single, “Cosmogony”, which Under The Radar praised as “bring together barrelling punk paces, noisy experimental freakouts, and eclectic elements from funk and blues, all blended into a wild psych punk mix.”

For vinyl fans, there’ll be a 100 limited release of their record on coke-bottle wax. If you’re not familiar with that, it’s basically semi-translucent wax vinyl that looks like glass.

vu (vu@weheartmusic.com) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ facebook.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic

Ghost at Palace Theatre, St. Paul (01 June 2018)

Ghost at the Palace Theatre Ghost Setlist     Act I     intro music: Klara stjärnor (Jan Johansson song)     intro music: Miserere Mei, Deus (Gregorio Allegri song) Ashes Rats Absolution Ritual Con Clavi Con Dio Per Aspera ad Inferi Devil Church Cirice Stand by Him Miasma (instrumental) with Papa Nihil sax solo Jigolo Har Megiddo (Acoustic) Pro Memoria Deus in Absentia Act II (The Second Coming) intro music: Masked Ball (Jocelyn Pook song) Spirit From the Pinnacle to the Pit Faith Year Zero Spöksonat > He Is Prime Mover Mummy Dust If You Have Ghosts (Roky Erickson cover) Dance Macabre Square Hammer -- Encore -- Monstrance Clock outro music: The Host of Seraphim (Dead Can Dance song) Tour Dates 06/08/2018 Tampere, Finland "South Park Festival" 06/15/2018 Bretigny Sur Orge, France "Download Festival" 06/21/2018 Dessel, Belgium "Graspop Metal Meeting" 06/23/2018 Copenhagen, Denmark "Copenhell" 07/12/2018 Viveiro, Spain "Resurrection Fest" 07/14/2018 Eindhoven, NL "Dynamo Metalfest" 07/20/2018 Nordfjordeid, Norway "Malakoff Festival" 08/03/2018 Wacken, Germany "Wacken Open Air Festival" 08/05/2018 Colmar, France "Foire Aux Vins Festival" 11/16/2018 Inglewood, CA Forum 12/15/2018 Brooklyn, NY Barclays Center Read More Ghost Swedish Grammy® Award-winning rock/metal band Ghost (formerly Ghost BC) is back in the Twin Cities, touring in support of their forthcoming album Prequelle (due for release on June 1st .…

The hours leading up to their sold-out show exemplified both the agony and the ecstasy of being a touring rock and roll band—

Swedish occult hard rock /metal band Ghost played a very crowded Palace Theatre in downtown St. Paul, but the very night before in Milwaukee, a 52-yr old fan near the front collapsed at intermission (never to recover), soon after passing away of natural causes.  The band rightfully suspended the remainder of that show out of respect but the tour resumed, landing in Minnesota on the very day their fourth studio album, Prequelle (Loma Vista Recordings) was released. 

This Rats! On the Road Tour is actually an evening with- meaning two full sets of the band (w/no opener), lasting an impressive one-hundred thirty-five minutes and giving fans the most in-depth and well-rounded-show of the band’s decade-plus career. 

The show actually started some twenty minutes late as the venue struggled to get the long, winding line of ticketholders into the building, also resulting in a floor that was more crowded than we’d seen at any previous point at this venue, before. 

The band emerged for their hour-long opening first set onto a stage that featured a long white staircase in front of a backdrop triptych of three stained glass windows, with the five Nameless Ghoul instrumentalists in matching black outfits and devil masks, joined by two new “Ghoulettes” up top on keyboards and backing vocals, and all led by Cardinal Copia, the newest identity and apprentice to previous papal guises, from bandleader Tobias Forge.

The band’s visual spectacle remains as mesmerizingly eccentric as ever, with Copia (in stark makeup and prosthetics) acknowledging the previous night’s unfortunate happenstance early, though stating “the show must go on” and to “celebrate in his memory” before launching into 2010’s ‘Ritual’. 

Though the band is mostly guitar-driven musically, songs like 2015’s (Grammy award–winning) ‘Cirice’ are actually quite melodic, with its Gilmour-like guitar riffs and keyboard punctuations. A first set highlight was the new instrumental, ‘Miasma’, which featured a brief appearance by Papa Nihil, wheeled out in a chair in full papal garb accompanied by a few followers, to play his sax solo, only to collapse back into the chair to be quickly wheeled off. 

“Are you familiar with the shuffle?”Copia asked before the acoustic ‘Jigolo Har Megiddo’, “Replacements never did a shuffle for you? No Husker Du?” he joked, showing the audience to clap properly in time to the song, then closing the opening set with 2015’s musically complicated ‘Deus in Absentia’. 

After the break, Act II (The Second Coming) began with the opening track from 2015’s Meliora, the hallucinogenic trip of ‘Spirit’. “Did you take time to freshen up a little?” Copia asked, checking in with the crowd after the break, “you should… because you stink”.

‘Mummy Dust’ from 2015, is one of the band’s sonically hardest songs, accentuating the doom and gloom lyrics with slashing guitar riffs and a growling vocal.  Copia took time to introduce the band (albeit naming all members generically as “ghoul”) during their swinging Roky Erickson cover, following that with their new end-of-the-world party song, ‘Dance Macabre’. 

2016’s Freemason leaning ‘Square Hammer’ from their Popestar EP closed the set with a lyrically-shrouded plea for truth and after taking a collective bow, Copia re-emerged to give the roaring crowd what they wanted- one more song, 2012’s ‘Monstrance Clock’ (the title of which refers to a Renaissance-era mirror clock used in church rituals, though Copia lyrically references a completely different meaning).  And, in case you forgot you were at a doom metal show, the closing chanted lyrics of the song- “Come together, together as one, come together, for Lucifer’s Son”- were there to remind you. 

A positive footnote is that one of the band’s US fan clubs, Ghost American Ministries, has launched a GoFundMe page for the fallen Milwaukee fan, and has raised over $7600 to date.

With Rats referring less to the plague-carrying rodents and more to the nefarious forces of society spreading their beliefs like wildfire to eradicate societies, it’s refreshing that Ghost can turn that idea on its end, and make everyone temporarily forget the headlines for a very enjoyable two-hour+ musical escape on the day of their new album’s release, and that their fans can rally to make a positive difference, in the aftermath of a recent tragedy.

Ghost at Palace Theatre, St. Paul (01 June 2018)

john (johnc@weheartmusic.com) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic

First Aid Kit at Palace Theatre, St. Paul (30 Jan 2018)

Read More First Aid Kit Swedish duo First Aid Kit (sisters Klara and Johanna Söderberg) is back in town, headlining the Palace Theatre in St Paul. The show is sold out. …

Photos and setlist for First Aid Kit and Van William at Palace Theatre in St. Paul on 30 January 2018. Stay tuned for a full recap.

First Aid Kit Setlist

Rebel Heart It's a Shame King of the World Postcard Stay Gold The Lion's Roar You Are the Problem Here To Live a Life Ruins Wolf Crazy on You (Heart cover) Fireworks Emmylou Nothing Has to Be True -- Encore -- Hem of Her Dress Revolution (Van William song) with Van William Master Pretender My Silver Lining

First Aid Kit Tour Dates

02/01/2018 Nashville, TN Ryman Auditorium
02/02/2018 Chicago, IL Riviera Theatre
02/03/2018 Detroit, MI St. Andrews Hall
02/05/2018 Toronto, ON Danforth Music Hall
02/06/2018 Montreal, QC MTELUS
02/07/2018 Boston, MA House Of Blues
02/09/2018 Washington, DC
02/10/2018 Philadelphia, PA Union Transfer
02/13/2018 New York, NY Beacon Theatre
02/24/2018 Glasgow, O2 Academy
02/26/2018 Manchester, Albert Hall
02/27/2018 Manchester, Albert Hall
03/01/2018 London, Roundhouse
03/05/2018 Paris, France La Cigale
03/06/2018 Brussels, Belgium Ancienne Belgique
03/07/2018 Amsterdam, Netherlands Paradiso
03/08/2018 Berlin, Germany Columbiahalle
03/10/2018 Hamburg, Germany Grosse Freiheit 36
03/11/2018 Copenhagen, Denmark Store Vega
03/13/2018 Oslo, Norway Oslo Spektrum Arena
03/14/2018 Malmo, Sweden The Concert House
03/15/2018 Goteborg, Sweden Lisebergshallen
03/16/2018 Stockholm, Waterfront Congress Centre
03/17/2018 Stockholm, Waterfront Congress Centre
03/19/2018 Helsinki, Finland Helsinki Hall
04/01/2018 Tyagarah, Australia Bluesfest
04/03/2018 Newtown, Australia Enmore Theatre
04/05/2018 Thombury, Australia Croxton Bandroom
04/06/2018 Thombury, Australia Croxton Bandroom
04/14/2018 Indio, CA Coachella
04/21/2018 Indio, CA Coachella
06/09/2018 Manchester, TN Bonnaroo
07/05/2018 Roskilde, Denmark Roskilde Festival

First Aid Kit with Van William

Van William

First Aid Kit

First Aid Kit

First Aid Kit

First Aid Kit

First Aid Kit at Palace Theatre, St Paul (30 Jan 2018)

john (johnc@weheartmusic.com) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic

Radio Dept. at Triple Rock Social Club, Minneapolis (03 Mar 2017)

Radio Dept. Setlist Sloboda Narodu Committed To The Cause We Got Game David Never Follow Suit The New Improved Hypocrisy Bus The Worst Taste In Music Running Out Of Love Heaven's On Fire Death To Fascism Swedish Guns Teach Me To Forget Occupied -- Encore -- 1995 Why Won't You Talk About It? Germans Setlist Dead Bird Hideway Cruel Delusions Rainbow (Cats 4Ever) Wonderhow Read More The Radio Dept. Sweden’s The Radio Dept. is back in the USA. They’ll be playing the Triple Rock Social Club on Friday. The duo (Johan Duncanson and Martin Carlberg) is touring in support of Running Out Of Love …

The Radio Dept. officially made their second Minneapolis appearance at the Triple Rock Social Club last week, March 3rd, in support of their new album Running Out of Love.

Playing music when the doors opened (and intermission) was DJ Jake Rudh. His appearance was previously unannounced, so this may have been a last-minute gig for the local DJ. His music choice was what you would find at a typical Transmission show... including plenty of bands from yesteryears, like The Smiths. Oddly, David Bowie-lacking, considering Rudh was on a strong Bowie-kick after his unexpected death.

Germans

First band on the bill was Brooklyn’s Germans (not to be confused with the Canadian indie rock band of the same name). Germans is currently singer / songwriter Julia Kwamya and bass player Chris Urriola (who also provided pre-recorded instrumental backings).

Kwamya hit the nail on the head when she self-described her sound as “moody disco”, particularly when the band started playing ‘Hideway’.

The duo sounded really good on stage, with clear vocals and disco-ish beats, but, as a new-ish band, they kept announcing, “We’re Germans” throughout their brief set. They knew that the audience was still coming in and they wanted to get their name out.

With only a handful of songs written, they played all of the songs they’ve released online, including their set closer ‘Wonderhow’ single from 2013.

We first discovered Sweden’s The Radio Dept. in March 2007 (10 years ago!), although in truth, the band’s been around since 1995. The band is currently Johan Duncanson and Martin Larsson, but is joined on stage by an additional guitarist (not introduced) and keyboard player Daniel Tjäder.

This was somewhat of a rare appearance for the band as their first Minneapolis appearance was at the 7th Street Entry on 09 Feb 2011 with Young Prisms. Their second appearance at the Varsity Theater in November 2011 was unfortunately cancelled, “due to family related matters.” Still, despite the six year absent, fans were still all too happy to have the Swedish band back in town.

Setlist

With their sixth album, Running Out of Love out now on our favorite Swedish label, Labrador Records, the band decided to start (‘Sloboda Narodu’, ‘Committed to the Cause’, ‘We Got Game’) and end (‘Swedish Guns’, ‘Teach Me to Forget’, ‘Occupied’) with chunks of the new record. Filling out the middle were some old favorites like ‘David’ and ‘Never Follow Suit’.

They did goof a bit and accidentally skipped over ‘Running Out Of Love’ (originally intended to be played after ‘Bus’, looking at their setlist). Duncanson realized this and announced, “We kind of skipped one song... We should go back.”

The Radio Dept.’s sound is a little shoegazey with melancholy, layered vocals, provided by Duncanson. Unfortunately, depending on songs and your location, Duncanson’s vocals is sometime undermixed with the loud music, so you can’t hear what he is singing sometime.

Fans who stuck around for the encore heard two old songs from their debut album Lesser Matters: ‘1995’ and ‘Why Won't You Talk About It?’

The Radio Dept.’s tour ends tonight at Music Hall Of Williamsburg in New York. The band will make two music festivals in 2017: Sasquatch! Music Festival in Quincy (May 27th) and Sideways Festival in Finland (June 10th).

Radio Dept. at Triple Rock Social Club, Minneapolis (03 Mar 2017)

vu (vu@weheartmusic.com) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic

Firefox AK: Heart of Mine

Podcast Firefox AK Firefox AK, spending her morning in New York to talk to us about... Firefox AK Read More Firefox AK The original Firefox is back with a new album, If I Were A Melody, to be released this month. I call her the original, because Andrea Kellerman was using that as her ...

It’s been five years since Firefox AK (aka Andrea Kellerman) released Color the Trees, so we’re excited to hear that she is back with a new forthcoming album in early 2017. She teased us that she will once again be collaborating on a song with her friend Annika Norlin (Hello Saferide) on the new record (the two of them previously worked together on Hello Saferide’s ‘Long Lost Penpal’).

Why the long break? According to Kellerman, it was mostly due to the stress of trying to be successful at her record label: “I was probably naïve, but for me, who was used to the personal and loyal people at Razzia Records, it was almost shocking to all of a sudden work with people who were more concerned with sales figures than I was ever used to. In the end it took away the joy of making music.”

She took a break from music to raise her family (apparently in Los Angeles!) and worked as a graphic designer after all the tour promotion for Color the Trees.

Anyway, Firefox AK’s latest single and music video Heart of Mine is out now on Razzia, so she has not left the record label. The new single was produced by Claes Björklund, known for being in the duo Iamamiwhoami (with singer Jonna Lee), and the music video was directed by Mats Udd. The video has a creepy, demonic possession, vibe to it.

Sample lyrics from “Heart of Mine”:

“Told you like a thousand times
This is where I wanna be
Ruffling my feathers before your eyes

Never felt this way before
Never wanted nothing more
calling out the crazy before your eyes”

We’re big fans, of course. And in case you forget, we did speak with Andrea Kellerman when she first appeared at CMJ in 2008 via telephone. You can download the audio file on archive.org.

vu (vu@weheartmusic.com) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ facebook.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic

The Tallest Man on Earth at First Avenue, Minneapolis (29 Aug 2015)

poster The Tallest Man on Earth Setlist Fields of Our Home Slow Dance 1904 Singers Darkness of the Dream Timothy solo Love Is All The Gardener Thousand Ways Sagres The Wild Hunt Revelation Blues solo/duo Criminals Little Nowhere Towns Where Do My Bluebird Fly King of Spain Dark Bird is Home -- Encore -- The Dreamer Like the Wheel Tour Dates 09/02/15 Columbus, OH Newport Music Hall 09/03/15 Cleveland, OH House Of Blues 09/04/15 Toronto, ON Massey Hall 09/05/15 Holland, MI Knickerbocker Theater 09/05/15 Holland, MI Hope College 09/07/15 Columbia, MO The Blue Note 09/08/15 Wichita, KS Orpheum Theatre 09/09/15 Tulsa, OK Cain's Ballroom 09/10/15 Tulsa, OK Cain's Ballroom 09/11/15 Dallas, TX House Of Blues 09/12/15 Houston, TX House Of Blues 09/13/15 Austin, TX Austin City Limits Live 10/03/15 Oslo, Norway Oslo Opera House 10/04/15 Goteborg, Sweden Konserthuset 10/05/15 Stockholm, Sweden Cirkus 10/06/15 Umea, Sweden Idunteatern 10/08/15 Linkoping, Sweden Konsert & Kongress 10/09/15 Falun, Sweden Magasinet 10/10/15 Aarhus, Denmark Fonden VoxHall 10/12/15 Cologne, Germany E-Werk 10/13/15 Berlin, Germany Huxleys Neue Welt 10/14/15 Vienna, Austria Arena Vienna 10/15/15 Milan, Italy Alcatraz 10/16/15 Zurich, Switzerland Volkshaus 10/17/15 Paris, France Le Bataclan 10/19/15 London Roundhouse 10/20/15 Glasgow ABC1 10/21/15 Dublin, Ireland Vicar Street 10/23/15 Manchester Albert Hall 10/24/15 East Sussex De La Warr Pavilion 10/25/15 Brussels, Belgium Ancienne Belgique 10/27/15 Copenhagen, Denmark VEGA Read More Tallest Man On Earth After playing sold out shows at both Music Hall of Williamsburg and The Beacon Theater in New York, The Tallest Man On Earth (aka Sweden’s Kristian Matsson) recorded an intimate set ... Lady Lamb the Beekeeper Opening for Typhoon were the new-wave sounding Wild Ones and, to my delight, the also-quite-amazing Lady Lamb the Beekeeper (the musical alias of Aly Spaltro). Looking a bit like the Olsen ...

Thankfully, The Tallest Man on Earth did not live up to his name—

Just seventeen days prior, a 30 x 30’ piece of the 1930’s-era ceiling on the venerable First Avenue club fell down, injuring five and forcing them to close to tear out the remainder and safely refurbish the venue.  The ceiling itself is now more exposed, with more pipes and beams showing, all painted black, with sounds carrying and bouncing around a touch more, though all still clear and well-mixed.

Despite his slightly oddly named stage moniker, Swedish singer/songwriter Kristian Matsson stands only at 5’ 7” (coincidentally same height as Bob Dylan) and he and his band became the first touring act to reopen First Avenue since the ceiling collapse, playing a 90 min. headlining set to a near-capacity packed crowd.

Lady Lamb

Someone with another strange stage name, Lady Lamb, opened the evening with a focused 40 min. solo acoustic set featuring songs from her latest, After (on Mom + Pop Music).  AKA Aly Spaltro, the singer/guitarist/banjo player from Maine mesmerized many in the folk-ready crowd, opening with ‘Crane Your Neck’, and played songs with peculiar titles like ‘Bird Balloons’ and ‘Spat Out Spit’.

Kristian Matsson

Taking the stage to the taped intro of Håkan Hellström’s ‘För sent för Edelweiss’, Matsson and his four-piece band emerged (keys; viola/guitar; sax/bass; and drums) with the new album’s (Dark Bird is Home on Dead Oceans Music) opening track, ‘Fields of Our Home’.

Matsson’s sound and musical vision has expanded courtesy of this new and most personal work, chronicling his recent divorce and death of a close family member; but he gratefully doesn’t take it to “Iron and Wine” heights, whose touring members numbered more than Pink Floyd’s live show, the last time they were here.

‘1904’ written “about and in Minneapolis” from Matsson’s previous album, got warm applause, though it’s never been revealed if it’s about the tornado that year or something else, but Matsson himself proved to be a fierce tornado; usually singing a verse then darting away to stumble to one side of the stage or the other, strumming wildly.  While many hip-hop MCs end with “dropping a mic”, Matsson has a habit of spiking his guitar pick in celebration, putting the exclamation point on each of his songs, and making the need to have a stack of picks on a side amplifier.

Matsson’s on stage fragility was evident when he responded with doubt to cries of “I love you”, mistook a “woo” for a “boo”, and warned the crowd he would only play soft and low if they continued to talk, which thankfully resulted in polite shushing by people for the rest of the set.

‘Singers’ was a song about Matsson’s grandfather, ‘Darkness of the Dream’ uses the same brooding synth  sound from Kate Bush’s ‘Running Up the Hill’, and Matsson hasn’t forgotten his own solo roots,  letting the band go (which includes Bon Iver/P.O.S. collaborator and falsetto background vocalist Mike Noyce) for a mid-set string of three solo songs.

“Sad songs only…on the ticket, I know”, Mattson mused, as each rustic folk number seemed to be pinned with an undercurrent of sadness, even the more uptempo ones like ‘Timothy’ about his “best friend ever”, who was with Matsson last time here, though was not this time.

‘Sagres’ has a very Dylan/Bon Iver feel, perhaps the result of finishing the new album’s songs in Wisconsin, and is one that local station The Current, has embraced for airplay. Noyce joined Matsson on stage for a pair of duo songs-  ‘Little Nowhere Towns’ which had Matsson move to keyboard and featured Noyce’s high harmonies, and the contemplative ‘Where Do My Bluebird Fly’.

The Tallest Man on Earth takes a bow

2010’s ‘The Dreamer’  and ‘Like the Wheel’ ended the evening as a two-song encore, with the appropriate final lines sung, “Like the branch that keeps hangman hanging on,  like the branch that will take me home”;  the latter featuring the band huddled acapella, around a pair of microphones.  And with that, The Tallest Man on Earth stood tall to a standing ovation, though happily not tall enough to scrape the new ceiling.

The Tallest Man on Earth at First Avenue, Minneapolis (29 August 2015)

john (johnc@weheartmusic.com) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic ♥ itunes.apple.com

Dog Day Afternoon

Read more When Animals Attack!.

Read More El Perro Del Mar I have to admit, I was really there for opener, El Perro del Mar. I’ve become obsessed with her latest LP, Love is Not Pop, as it is the perfect soundtrack for long nights of procrastination. ...

EL PERRO DEL MAR
elperrodelmar.com

I used to collect autographs from bands that I love in the 90s, but ultimately gave that up when I got older... mostly because I would leave for home right after a show or it was too much of a hassle trying to meet the artist (some musicians don't make it easy!).

Vu's El Perro Del Mar 12" (Autographed)

Anyway, I caught El Perro Del Mar (real name Sarah Assbring) at the Cedar Cultural Center on 07 March 2007 and I loved her self-titled debut album that I had her sign my copy of her 12" record (see photo of the autograph). I was also moved by her live performance and noted that she even had tears in her eyes during "I Can't Talk About It" (which I speculated was because the song was so emotional or personal to her).

So... her debut album is now officially ten years old, originally released in 2005. The record is being reissued as a special 10th Anniversary Deluxe Edition, and I'm pretty excited about this (even though I already own the original album). For those fans in the same boat, you can also look forward to ten bonus tracks, demos, b-sides, and acoustic cuts... which you might already have since many of the early B-Sides were given away for free via her record label.

The 10th Anniversary Deluxe Edition of El Perro Del Mar comes out next week, February 17th via the Control Group. Before you get too excited, I tried looking it online for USA store (Amazon), the Deluxe Album is not listed... so this may be an import-only record.

As a preview, the new Deluxe Edition, the label released "Do The Dog" for streaming, which El Perro Del Mar commented was the genesis of writing her debut album, “I was obsessed with old school reggae and dancehall around this time and after having recorded those first songs I wanted to do something that kind of took the edge off, or almost ridiculed that serious mood that I'd found myself in while writing the album.”

Also as a special 'dog' bonus, El Perro Del Mar translate from Spanish to 'The Dog of Sea'.

H HAWKLINE
hhawkline.com

In The Pink Of Condition is the new album from H Hawkline (aka Huw Gwynfryn Evans). If you live in the USA, you've probably never heard of this musician and TV presenter, but he seems to be quite popular in Wales. In the Pink of Condition came out February 3rd on Heavenly Recordings and featured his new single "Spooky Dog" - which the video was officially made available for viewing yesterday, February 9th, over at the youtube.

H Hawkline is currently in a middle of his UK tour:

02/12/15 - Cardiff, Clwb Ifor Bach
02/13/15 - Nottingham, Chameleon

02/14/15 - Glasgow, Nice & Sleazys

02/15/15 - Leeds, Brudenell Games Room
02/16/15 - Wakefield, Unity Works

02/17/15 - Hull, Adelphi

02/18/15 - York, Basement

02/19/15 - Cardiff, Clwb Ifor Bach

02/20/15 - Chester, The Compass

02/21/15 - Birmingham, Sunflower Lounge

02/23/15 - Brighton, The Hope

02/24/15 - Manchester, Gullivers

02/26/15 - Cardiff, Clwb Ifor Bach

DOGHEART
dogheartband.com

Speaking of next week, February 17th will see the release of What Burns The Best from Dogheart. The record was a result of a successful Kickstarter campaign to raise over $7k to record and press the album.... pretty impressive considering that the band is only slightly about a year old (having only formed in early 2014.)

I believe the band is a trio Matt Jenkins (guitar, vocals), Cameron Hering (drums), and Gray Hildreth (bass), but I've seen some photos of four people in the band.

As for the Dogheart name, this was from singer Jenkins, who suggested that the name can be a selfish creature... or a loving being.

vu (vu@weheartmusic.com) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic

Minneapolis Music Guide: April 20 - April 26, 2014

More Adventures in the USA 2014 The Orb

Here is a guide of some Minneapolis (and St Paul) shows next week: April 20 - April 26.

APRIL 20: FIRST AVENUE
The Orb w/ IMP

Legendary Electronic DJs and dubsters The Orb will be playing at the main room at First Avenue in Minneapolis on 04/20, as part of their "Adventures in the USA" tour.

Currently The Orb are original member Alex Paterson and Swiss-German producer Thomas Fehlmann. Expect these guys to play some techno and ambient music.

Also, other DJs on the bill: IMP (Inconceivable Master Plan), which features: sMILOdon, Toffler, Levin, & Loom In Essence and Deep Mix Minneapolis (DJ ESP Woody McBride, Casey Borchert & friends).

Tour dates:

04/17/14 Portland, OR Star Theater
04/18/14 Seattle, WA Neumos
04/19/14 Denver, CO Sculpture Park
04/20/14 Minneapolis, MN First Avenue
04/22/14 New York, NY HighLine Ballroom
04/23/14 Boston, MA Brighton Music Hall
04/25/14 Brooklyn, NY Brooklyn Bowl

Not Art Barsuk Read More Say Hi Say Hi To Your Mom, or currently now known as simply Say Hi, is a lo-fi indie rock band from Seattle, Washington. They have been quietly and consistently releasing their charming little music …

APRIL 21: 7TH STREET ENTRY
Say Hi and Big Scary

Co-headlining at the 7th Street Entry will be Say Hi (To Your Mom) and Big Scary.

We've previously reviewed Say Hi's album, so I thought I'd tell you about Big Scary. Big Scary are a duo (Tom Iansek and Jo Syme) from Melbourne, Australia.

The band recently received the Australian Music Prize, an award dedicated to recognizing excellence in Australian music (similar to Britain's Mercury Prize and Canada's Polaris Prize) for their album Not Art (Barsuk).

Tour dates:

04/18/14 Omaha, NE Slowdown
04/19/14 St. Louis, MO Blueberry Hill's Duck Room
04/20/14 Chicago, IL Schubas Tavern
04/21/14 Minneapolis, MN 7th Street Entry
04/22/14 Urbana, IL Canopy Club
04/23/14 Indianapolis, IN Radio Radio
04/24/14 Cleveland, OH Beachland Tavern
04/25/14 Toronto, ON Drake Hotel / Underground
04/26/14 Montreal, QC Il Motore
04/27/14 Boston, MA Brighton Music Hall
04/28/14 New York, NY Rough Trade
04/29/14 New York, NY Mercury Lounge
04/30/14 Philadelphia, PA Boot & Saddle
05/01/14 Washington, DC Black Cat
05/02/14 Carrboro, NC Cat's Cradle
05/03/14 Asheville, NC The Mill Room
05/04/14 Atlanta, GA Vinyl At Center Stage
05/06/14 Birmingham, AL BottleTree
05/07/14 New Orleans, LA Gasa Gasa
05/08/14 Houston, TX Fitzgerald's - Downstairs
05/09/14 Dallas, TX The Prophet Bar
05/10/14 Austin, TX The Mohawk
05/13/14 Scottsdale, AZ The Western
05/14/14 San Diego, CA The Casbah
05/15/14 Los Angeles, CA Echo
05/16/14 San Francisco, CA Bottom Of The Hill
05/25/14 Quincy, WA Gorge Amphitheatre

Screenings: Goldfrapp, Swedish House Mafia, and Snowpiercer

Poster Read More Goldfrapp We love Goldfrapp. The discoey band announce a UK tour for March and April 2014. Get your tickets now, they have previously sold out major European cities …

GOLDFRAPP
goldfrapp.com

Can't afford to fly over to the UK to catch Goldfrapp live? The next best thing is to catch their 30-minute Film Event & Live Performance of Tales of Us is available in theaters as a special two encore performances on March 25th & 27th. Please see listing of these films in your city below:

8 PM Showings:
3/25 & 3/27 AMC Empire on 42nd Street-NYC
3/25 & 3/27 AMC Burbank on North 1st Street-Burbank, CA
3/25 & 3/27 AMC Van Ness 14 IMAX San Francisco, CA
3/25 & 3/27 AMC Eden Prarie Mall Roseville, MN
3/25 & 3/27 AMC Barrington 30 Chicago, IL
3/25 & 3/27 AMC Cherry Creek on E. 1st Ave Denver,CO
3/25 & 3/27 AMC Franklin Mills Philadelphia, PA
3/25 & 3/27 AMC Pacific Palace on Pine Street Seattle, WA
3/25 & 3/27 AMC Sunset Place on Sunset Drive Miami, FL
3/25 & 3/27 AMC Owings Mills Owings Mills, MD
3/25 & 3/27 AMC Barton Creek on S Capitol Austin, TX
3/25 & 3/27 AMC Studio 30 Houston, TX
3/25 & 3/27 AMC Livonia on Haggerty Road Livonia, MI
3/25 & 3/27 AMC Center 24 on N 3rd Street-Phoenix, AZ
3/25 & 3/27 AMC Showplace 16 on Meridian Indianapolis, IN
3/25 & 3/27 AMC Elmwood Elmwood, LA
3/25 & 3/27 AMC Parkway Atlanta, GA
3/25 & 3/27 FilmBar Phoenix, AZ

7:30 PM Showings:
3/25 Cedar Lee Theatre Cleveland Heights, OH
3/25 Southside Works Cinema Pittsburg, PA
3/25 The Plaza Theatre Atlanta, GA
3/25 The Rialto Theatre Montreal, QUE

7 PM Showings:
3/25 Sie Filmcenter Denver, CO
3/25 & 3/27 Indie Screen Brooklyn, NY
3/27 The Texas Theatre Oak Cliff, TX

8 PM Showing:
3/25 The Trocadero Philadelphia, PA

9 PM Showings:
3/25 Rio Theatre Vancouver, BC
3/25, 3/26, 3/27 The Art Theatre Long Beach, CA

9:30 PM Showing:
3/26 Bloor Hot Docs Cinema Toronto, ONT

Poster Read More Swedish House Mafia Swedish House Mafia is a Swedish electronic dance music trio of three producers/DJs, Axwell, Steve Angello, and Sebastian Ingrosso. This week, Swedish House Mafia released their much-anticipated album, Until Now …

SWEDISH HOUSE MAFIA
leavetheworldbehind.com

Leave the World Behind is the documentary about the final moments as they complete their final "One Last Tour" of the global music sensation Swedish House Mafia. The film will be released in cinemas across the U.S. beginning March 27, 2014 for a special one-night presentation.

With over 1.7 million albums sold worldwide with their biggest selling single, "Don't You Worry Child," receiving over 160 million views on VEVO/YouTube and selling nearly 6 million singles worldwide reaching the #1 iTunes spot in 45 countries across the world including the UK, it's hard to believe that the group decided to call it quit while they are on top of the world.

Screening dates:

March 27th (One Day Only)
Regal South Beach Stadium 18 - Miami Beach, FL

April 1st (One Day Only)
Arclight Hollywood - Hollywood, CA
Filmbar - Phoenix, AZ
Marina Theatre - San Francisco, CA
Music Box Theatre - Chicago, IL
Studio Movie Grill Holcomb Bridge - Atlanta, GA
Trocadero Theatre - Philadelphia, PA

April 2nd (One Day Only)
Angelika Film Center & Café At Mosaic - Washington, DC
Reading Manville 12 Plex - Manville, NJ
Reading Cinemas Gaslamp 15 - San Diego, CA
Studio Movie Grill City Centre - Houston, TX
Studio Movie Grill Spring Valley - Dallas, TX
Tower Theatre - Sacramento, CA
Consolidated Theatres Ward Stadium 16 - Honolulu, HI

April 3rd (One Day Only)
Arclight Hollywood - Hollywood, CA
Filmbar - Phoenix, AZ
Studio Movie Grill City Centre - Houston, TX
Studio Movie Grill Spring Valley - Dallas, TX

April 4th (One Day Only)
Westwood Crest Theatre - Los Angeles, CA

Poster Read More movies.weheartmusic.com The beautiful Ingrid Pitt (The Wicker Man, Where Eagles Dare) stars as Elisabeth Nádasdy, an aging Hungarian Countess who discovers she can reverse her aging by bathing in the blood of young women. …

SNOWPIERCER
miramax.com

Sounds like a heavy metal band doesn't it? Well I just saw the uncut version of Snowpiercer film. I think it's good, and I'm compelled to write about it.

I didn't know it was based on a French comic book (Le Transperceneige), but you don't really need to know the source material to enjoy this rather strange little film. Although this is a Korean production, based on the various UK and US actors, the majority of the dialogue is in English. I would say 90% of it is in English, and whatever isn't in English (Korean, Japanese, French), I think it is okay for you to not know what they are saying (because the main character, played by Chris Evans, also doesn't understand).

You find out through the pacing of the movie that the film is about a whole civilization living on a train. The people in the back tail of the train is rebelling, so they take the fight from train car to car. I don't want to over analyze the film, but basically I believe each car sort of represent a different social class. As our heroes make their way to the train's engine, you're given more back story.

Like I said, it's a strange movie. Sort of like the Matrix, sort of like Brazil, sort of like City of Lost Children, and a bit of BioShock (game). The whole film has a very British feel to it, not at all what you'd think of a Korean picture.

Harvey Weinstein wants to re-edit/re-cut Snowpiercer for pacing reasons, reducing the film by twenty minutes. I wonder if that 20 minutes is basically all the non-English parts? That made sense for the U.S. audiences, but I believe they should release the film intact.... Snowpiercer is coming out June 2014.

PS, the U.S. remake of Oldboy gets a thumbs up from me as well. I love the Korean Oldboy, and I believe the U.S. version is just as good. But I'll talk about that at another time.

vu () ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic