The drones are after me!

I was slightly seduced this morning by a company who said they could hook me up with some money. All I needed to do was to place ads in my blog about this company or that! Then they take a percentage and the credit card company takes some! But in the end I get money for writing! Wow, how tempting! They know just how to warm my heart in this tough economy! You mean all I have to do is sell out to the big companies and I get money?! God why didn't I think of that? I could have been scamming all you readers into looking at ads!! Golly! Well if all I need to do is sell my soul and practically go against everything I believe in, I'm in! Right?! No.... I've stated many of times on here that this is an AD FREE BLOG! That's right big companies! AD MOTHER FUCKING FREE! I am going against "the man" here and bringing you my quality ranting and rambling for free! I expect nothing out of my readers but their input and time! I mean if you want to send me pretty things and/or cupcakes do feel free! So thank you readers for being here and do expect this and all of my blogs to remain ad free as long as I am alive!

Thank you again readers and thank you big company that tried to seduce me for giving me something to bitch about!

Neutral Milk Hotel

One of my favorite albums of all time is An Aeroplane over the Sea, which is one of Neutral Milk Hotel's finest! Why have I waited until now to declare my sweet love for this album? Well it was shuffled through the large stock of cd's I have! Some how upon stocking them this one was lost in the sea of music I have. Once I saw it the other day I jumped for joy! This album is amazing! The music is delicately laid out so it flows like a masterpiece when listening. I just am always shocked by the pop like beat of some songs to the slow calming that are in others. This album has been highly popular and to my surprise even has it's own Wikipedia page!

Why I love it? Since the first time I heard this album I fell in love with it. Although there are songs that come off as, well churchy... looking at it from a music standpoint it's stunningly beautiful. The low-fi quality doesn't drown out the epic lyrics and strums. Every time I hear it, it feels like an adventure. I can get lost in the guitar rifts. Fly over the sea with the frighteningly beautiful sound of Jeff Mangums voice. If you have yet to hear this beautiful album, PLEASE DO! It will definitely rock your world!

Music binge...

Yes it feels like some time since I've rated about music. So let me throw up a huge pile of indie rock/punk/whatever else on you. With the best albums of the year coming up i have to throw in the towel this year and give you a list of epic proportions that has been given to me. A friend of mine has a wonderful music blog and he greatfully produced a top 25 for this year. For your enjoyment, I thought I'd share it.

1. Grouper - "Dragging A Dead Deer Up A Hill"
2. Astrobrite - "One Hit Wonder"
3. Girl Talk - "Feed The Animals"
4. The Raveonettes - "Lust Lust Lust"
5. Belong - "Colorloss Record" (EP)
6. Fucked Up - "The Chemistry of Common Life"
7. No Age - "Nouns"
8. Vivian Girls - "Vivian Girls"
9. Black Mountain - "In The Future"
10. Why? - "Alopecia"
11.Abe Vigoda - "Skeleton"
12.Of Montreal - "Skeletal Lamping"
13. Dan Friel - "Ghost Town"
14.Deerhunter - "Microcastle"
15.Times New Viking - "Rip It Off"
16.Sigur Rós - "Með Suð í Eyrum Við Spilum Endalaust"
17.Burning Star Core - "Challenger"
18.Ruby Suns - "Sea Lion"
19.Fleet Foxes - "Fleet Foxes"
20.Spiritualized - "Songs In A & E"
21.The Tallest Man On Earth - "Shallow Grave"
22.Toxic Holocaust - "An Overdose of Death"
23.M83 - "Saturdays = Youth"
24.Fursaxa - "Kobold Moon"
25.Animal Collective - "Water Curses" (EP)

Yes I know I'm being lazy. I agree with this list besides the order. Trust me if you have free time take a gander around the fancy internet and listen! I will be putting together my top 10 soon! Oh the excitement!!! As fall comes to a close I must say along with this please, please, please listen to Yeasayer! The have captured my heart. There are some amazing live performances online on MPR.org!

Ratatat

I went to Ratatat, which ended up being the first sold out show I've ever been to. Which made me realize that I hate people! Besides making fun of the people who didn't have tickets outside! I was pushed so many times I actually started pushing back. I know, I am so immature! Ratatat was awesome though and their openning bands were amazing! I believe the one I like more was E-rock. I could be mistaken! Seeing Ratatat play live has been a goal of mine since I head their first album about 3 years ago! They definitely lived up to the hype which is good. I try not to go into concerts with high expectations, since I've done that before and was greatly disappointed! If you have a chance to see them, do it! They are amazing!!!!!!!!
Yea I've updated all blogs now!!!!!!!!!!!!! Wahahahaha!

Download- Mirando by Ratatat

It may just change your life!

Missing out

Life = busy, busy = no money! This is the only math equation that I have learned the past month or so! Summer is almost over, some may say it already is, well it hasn't snowed yet!!!! I've missed a hella lot of shows and I'm sure I'll miss more! But in September I will be seeing RATATAT!! Their newest album, like their older one, is awesome. So lesson of the day listen to it, love it, and tell me all about your love for it.

Update: Wolf Parade kicks ass

I was bouncing around like a sugar intoxicated child. Running late as usual, I grabbed my best friend and we hustled on our bikes to First Avenue. Once we got there and I had a drink in hand I let out a sigh of relief that in fact we were right on time, aka nothing had happened yet. A pair of men stumbled on stage and started the wonderful opening. After playing a couple songs they introduced themselves as Listening Party. Armed with a guitar and a wide variety of percussion instruments they filled the air with a surprising set of indie rock goodness. After they finished the anticipation in the room was intense. People were crowding on the floor, some armed with drinks and camera phones ready. Most equip with the usual indie fashion of converse, band shirt and rectangle framed glasses. When Wolf Parade finally took strange the crowd was beyond ecstatic. To sum up their performance, Wolf Parade was amazing! Although on the new album many of the songs seem to be reaching a darker point, it was quite different live! I was quite at awe with them and dancing right along with the rest of the population that overcrowded the venue. If given the opportunity to see them live I suggest it! The pure enjoyment of watching the whole band working off of each other is magical to say the least. They did play a lot of the new album, which I haven't heard a lot of, but many older songs were gracefully slipped in there as well. They lit up First Avenue and the sound quality of their performance was amazing! A friend of mine was able to get me in for free after meeting them earlier in the day while working at Starbucks! I would love to meet them and be able to tell them what a huge inspiration they have been to me to start painting again. Plus, a big inspiration to many other people who have music talent! When they finished their encore I walked away a bigger fan than I walked in as, which is how it should be! They were absolutely amazing! Although I felt sad leaving the venue without having a chance to meet them, I rode home a happy woman!

Why I love Spencer Krug

To me Spencer is a god and I will worship him as so. The first time and only time (until tonight!) I've seen him play I was blasted into a world I didn't even know existed! He was playing for the slightly, growing popular band Sunset Rubdown. Which happens to be one of my all time favorite bands ever. Their newest album Random Spirit Lover has seen more action in my cd player than the slutty girl at a frat party. Tonight I hope to be one of the many souls in Minneapolis to stand in awe at the Spencer. To much debate I will be seeing his other band Wolf Parade. Why with much debate you ask? I am oddly not a huge fan of Wolf Parade. Which does cause quite a debate between myself and the fellow indie rockers. It doesn't make sense why I could love one band but hate another to some people, especially when the bands do have some slight similarities. I just prefer his other work! Spencer Krug is or has been part of many endeavours which have spawned off into numerous bands. He started with Frog Eyes; then came Wolf Parade, Fifths of Seven, Sunset Rubdown, Swan Lake and also does some solo work! The impressiveness of this is amazing considering that Wolf Parade also spans out into other numerous bands which can get confusing to some and leads me to play the 6 degrees of Wolf Parade! Spencer's Wolf Parade band mate Dan Boeckner is also in another fav band of mine Handsome Furs. Which, yes, does cause more debate to the Wolf Parade vs. the rest! My main problem with them is the sound. I love the individual players but as a whole Wolf Parade is just not my cup of tea. I will still see them live tonight since I do try to give bands the benefit of the doubt. Plus anytime I can have the opportunity to gaze upon a god and most likely try to profess my undying love for him I'll do it!

music fills the sky

Although I didn't get to see Rock the Garden I was able to hear some of it. We sat in the park, while indulging in cheap wine and heard Cloud Cults entire set. They were very good! Not surprising at all! They come from the great city of Minneapolis. Their music has been described as experimental indie rock. What I love most about this band besides the wonderful music is the way that they are so environmentally friendly! I wish I could have been able to actually see them since I know that during their performances they actually have people painting on stage! At the end of the set they auction off the painting!!! What a wonderful way to combine art with music! We didn't stay for the rest of the set list unfortunately my friend way feeling sick.... but as I walked to the liquor store later on I was surprised that when I took off my ever present headphones the air was filled with Andrew Bird. I could see the wonderful light show they set up and it was absolutely amazing to hear that so out of the blue. I completely forgot that he would be playing around that time! It brought a smile to my face to hear such a breathtaking performance just blocks from my house. I had to sit outside for a while to hear more! Breathtaking! So I'm going to try to do some more writing on here, due to boredom at work! Some post may be shorter cd reviews, but I will be trying my hardest to hit up more concerts here! Friday, the amazingly talented Dosh will be playing in Minneapolis! I am completely looking forward to that!!!

I will leave you with a search for now since I don't feel right giving links to artist music! Song to look for---- "Um, Circles and Squares" by Dosh.... let me know what you think!

It's heating up!

Thank goodness!!!!! It's burning up here in Minnesota we are officially above 80! Laugh if you dare! I have a City Pages in hand and I've highlighted my concert to go to list! It's been a little slow here, a few good bands have stopped by that I didn't have the opportunity to see. Luckily the weekend is Rock the Garden! The summer concert for all of us longing "hipsters." Which is awesome for me since I live close enough to the park to be able to sneak an ear full! I know it's horrible but I was unable to actually get tickets... I'm excited to be able to hear the likes of Andrew Bird and The New Pornographers! They're not exactly my fave bands but still their all very good! There have been many great bands I had been pinning for coming here that are not. I'm sure next year there will be more. My musical knowledge has been flourishing, so I'm sure my taste will change. I've been an indie rocker for a long time. Oddly enough I had started really getting into folk and electronic/dance music. I despised both genres for a long time. After convincing myself to actually start reaching out more I found that I like them. I guess that's a good reason not to be so pretentious! I will still not listen to the mainstream crap though. I don't care how pretentious it sounds! I refuse to listen to top 40's! In other news I was given the opportunity of a lifetime.... I am going to the Pitchfork Music Festival! That one I'm not sneaking into! The lineup has pretty much rocked my socks since it was first posted. Although I will only be able to go to one of the third day event I could not be more excited! Let the music begin! I believe there is a concert I will be attending in the next week, so I'll let you lovely readers actually get a concert review finally! Enjoy your weekend and share the music experiences you loved! You know, I just love hearing new info on bands you love! I am a sponge and I will suck up your knowledge!!

Concert list (AKA list of awesomeness)

So over the past few years I have had the pleasure of attending many concerts in Minneapolis. Which I have pretty much proclaimed my indie cred. Here's a list for you, since I've already said I'm pretentious!

In order...

*Pinback
*The Decemberists with Okkervil River
*Stephen Malkmus
*Built to Spill
*Islands with Sunset Rubdown, Frog Eyes...
*The Shins
*The Thermals
*Animal Collective
*Atmosphere
*Black Moth Super Rainbow
*Caribou with Fuck Buttons
*Destroyer

If you haven't heard of any of these, you should. Trust me they're all pretty much awesome. Until next time my dears!

Let the action begin!

After years of dedicated work, I can honestly call myself a music snob. I was brought up with classic 70's and 80's music. I've spent my adult years listening to a wide variety of indie rock/pop, experimental, instrumental, and many other genres. I know, it's quite impressive. So why did I find it necessary to blog about it? Well I'm pretentious when it comes to my music snobbery. Hey at least I can admit it! The music scene in Minneapolis is pretty decent. Most people only know that Prince and Bob Dylan are from here, which does make me very sad. There are many other great musicians from this area, whether up and coming or already developed. To name a couple the infamous Atmosphere, Dosh, Tapes and Tapes, The Hold Steady and many others. We have a little of everything here in Minnesota from Folk to Hip Hop to Electronic. Lucky for you I'm trying to dabble more into the local music scene. I'm trying to achieve a minimal of two concerts per month. Some popular and some not so much. By popular I should add that it's anything that might be played on Minnesota Public Radio or has been received by my top secret informants. I am not a fan of most of the other popular music. If you listen to lame top 40's shit or cock rock I don't think this will be for you. Prepare to be slammed for your lack of music knowledge. Summer is always the busy season here so I am assuming there will be many more than just 2 a month. Of course no one wants to come to Minne"snow"ta during the winter so we kind of get jacked that way. I'm open to any suggestions on music. I'm not saying I will like them all but I will give it a shot. Next post shall contain already attending concerts, for bragging rights. Also look forward to numerous rants and extreme sauciness.