Here are a few mp3s from Land Of Talk’s debut full-length, Some Are Lakes (Saddle Creek). They played First Avenue on Monday. Did any of you go?
Land Of Talk - “Corner Phone” (mp3)
Land Of Talk - “Some Are Lakes” (mp3)

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The Golden Hands Before God Conducts Incredible Magic Band & The Spirits released their North American debut, Here, via Pop Echo just a few weeks ago.
I got the album late, then finally listened through it, loved it, and then lost it somewhere in Iowa — meanwhile completely forgetting to tell you how much I loved […]

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Grab a six-pack, fire up the T-bird and head into the darkness. Minneapolis band Darkfold is playing their debut CD release show this Thursday, Oct. 16.
Darkfold’s new album, Metaverse, is flecked with mid-90s alt-grunge (”Bottom of the World”), metalcore instrumentals (”Oppressotron”) and early-70s Brit-metal (”The Hunt”) — all the makings of a drunken night of […]

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Randall Shreve’s sophomore release, The Entertainer, conjures visions of P.T. Barnum’s great-great-grandson sitting in front of a bedroom mirror applying Robert Smith eyeshadow while trapeze artists swing overhead like Circus Circus. Or maybe that’s the ether talking…
Above is the video for “Welcome to the Show” and here’s another track:
Randall Shreve : King of the […]

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Yael Naim’s track “New Soul” was used in the Macbook Air commercial last January and her career blew up.
Tell me you don’t know this song, even vicariously…

Hell, even Tristan Pettyman did a cover to try to break out.
Of course, there’s more to Naim’s talents than an Apple commericial, and she’s coming to Cedar […]

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Frank Hoier’s Lovers & Dollars caught my attention in the recent post office box haul of “kind-of good” music.
Billed as leading the new wave front of modern Americana roots music, it’s hard to tell Hoier is a SoCal to NY transplant.
If you ask me — considering his slide guitar work — he was […]

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I got this album from Fidotrust Records called Trust Us…A Long Beach Comp featuring music from 26 Long Beach bands.
I know what you’re thinking — damn hippies.
But you’re wrong. This is a diverse collection and a great showcase of the talent, voice and creativity of LB musicians.
I had some help from the PR […]

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On Friday, October 3rd, Madison folksinger John Statz will release his third album, An Evening with John Statz, at the Acadia Cafe in Minneapolis.
Here are two favorites off the LP:
John Statz : “A Letter From Southeast Asia” (mp3)
John Statz : “Best Girl of ‘16″ (mp3) The album was recorded live the first night of John’s […]

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I’m a big fan of Dungen out of Sweden. My first experience was listening to Ta det lugnt back in 2005 and then catching their live show at Minneapolis’ 400 bar that October.
As I wrote then, Dungen’s live show is like Olivia Tremor Control meets Flaming Lips naked on a Swedish alp as Syd […]

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San Francisco’s Leopold and His Fiction have set out to reinvent all the best things about rock and roll — bright guitar, blues chord progressions and dirty choruses. Regurgitating what the best of the bests have been doing for years, I hear Zeppelin, Strokes, Stripes and Dylan. All good things.
Here’s the single off the […]

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