I just finished my review of Atmosphere’s new album “When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That Shit Gold.” It’s in stores tomorrow. Check it out: Review: Atmosphere - “When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That Shit Gold”
Atmosphere “Shoulda Known” (MP3)
Atmosphere at Rhymesayers Entertainment
Video: Atmosphere - Guarantees:
While many people say that Saint Paul is dead after 4:30 P.M., residents and regulars know its secrets. There’s jazz on Monday nights at the Artists’ Quarter with Rob Dewey and his band Green.
Green goes on stage around 7:30 P.M. The crowd is usually small but a good mix. It’s not uncommon to see a few local residents, a couple suits and ties after a late day, people dropping downstairs after dining at Great Waters above and artists and poets scribbling in notepads before the open mic night after the show.
Depending on the night Green may be a three or a four piece act. Rob might be behind the Artists’ Quarter’s Yamaha grand piano or he may bring along his Fender Rhodes keyboard or a synth. They put on a good mix of original jazz pieces and improvisations as well as their take on jazz classics. Sometimes they’ll throw in an unsuspecting cover that you wouldn’t expect to hear at a jazz club and you’ll be surprised how they pull it off so well.
The kicker: it’s a free show (if you buy two drinks). One of Saint Paul’s secrets.
Green - Something - Live at the AQ (MP3) [via]
Artists’ Quarter
408 Saint Peter St
Saint Paul, MN 55102
651-292-1359
I attended yesterday’s happy hour and exhibit showing of W(e are )here: Mapping the Human Experience. A good mix of different medias and mediums on exploring the concept of “where.”
Ed Kohler has a quick write-up and I took a couple photos. I recommend checking it out - there’s some very good pieces and a lot to think about. Make sure you add yourself to the interactive map of where everyone’s coming from and how they got there!
Intermedia Arts
2822 Lyndale Ave S
Minneapolis, MN 55408
612-871-4444
Anna and I, after picking up a few of the best cupcakes I’ve ever had, wandered out to Medicine Lake to visit the Art Shanty Projects.
We spent three hours out on the ice, and there was more yet we could have done. Photos tell a lot more than words. (We had a ton of fun playing the piano on ice, mailing post cards, going inside a camera, playing percussion while people sang karaoke, visiting the project’s radio station and a bunch of other stuff.)
Everyone we talked to there was extremely friendly and welcoming. If you haven’t been, check out their calendar. There’s a lot of fun happening, and they’re out there until February 23rd.
See my Art Shanty Projects slideshow.
I was lucky enough to see this nine minute short on the big screen at the Riverview Theater about a year ago. “Lump,” by Sarah Jean Kruchowski has been shown at a number of festivals and won “Best in Fest” at the Portland International Short Short Festival. It was shot locally and it features music by Jessy Greene. It just recently showed up on YouTube to share. Enjoy.
Want the boombox from this Brother Ali video?
Bo Hakala is throwing it sold it on eBay.
The Twin Cities Interactive Community, headed up by Andrew Eklund, is having its holiday bash at The Bulldog Northeast from 5:30 to 11:30 PM. The Twin Cities Interactive Community is a loosely organized and very open group of interactive professionals, online marketing gurus, bloggers, developers and internet culture junkies. Open invite to anyone. If you’re on Facebook, add to your events.
Starting around 8:30 PM, Kyle from Reveille Magazine and More Cowbell celebrates his 30th birthday with a bash at the Nomad World Pub with Martin Devaney, Stook and others. Again, if you’re on Facebook, add to your events.
Last night went out with Bill and met up with some other friends to see the Urban Explorers: Into the Darkness screening at the Riverview Theater.
A good turnout and director Melody Gilbert and some of the explorers in the film did a Q & A session afterwards.
Urban Explorers: Into the Darkness is a documentary that tags along with people such as the Action Squad, people found at the Urban Exploration Resource, Infiltration and others as they wander through abandoned buildings, explore underground tunnels and other structures.
Running time is just under 90 minutes, it was shot digitally and with the exception of the interviews, mostly hand held. I was itching at the beginning wanting a bit more “show” and less “tell.” After a few drawn out portions (such as where many of the explorers being interviewed go through their arsenals of equipment), Urban Explorers starts to kick in.
They get deep into the life of “Slim Jim,” an eccentric Iowan with an extreme obsession for cartography with a number of antisocial behaviors (whom many in the crowd laughed at). They follow him to an urban explorer convention in Glasgow with a whirlwind tour with a number of sites including an abandoned castle and some running from the police. They grill meat on an alter at an abandoned seminary and we get to see Slim Jim loosing up with his community not bound by geography built around the common interest of exploring.
Urban Explorers then has a great portion in Paris that starts in the evening going down a manhole and exploring the catacombs underground including seeing places where civilians and Germans hid during war bombings, running into a party and having a picnic amongst piles of human bones. It ends with the same men popping out of the same manhole in the morning, showing a fantastic juxtaposition with normal Parisian life.
Urban Explorers is surprisingly gripping and a great insight into a community that rides on the edges of the law and many times on the edge of their lives.
The Q & A session afterwards was particularly revealing when a few people in the audience questioned the safety in various scenes. For example, the issues of using electrical equipment in areas thick with methane, climbing next to an abandoned NASA rocket that has some unburned fuel in it and health issues regarding walking through raw sewage where “shitsticles” dripped down were brought up. The answers ranged from “we’ve thought about it” to comparing how all activities have some element of danger and risk involved and it’s more about managing those risks.
One of the last questions came from director Melody Gilbert herself: “How many of you consider yourselves urban explorers?” I turned around and saw a good portion of the theater raising their hands, many of which probably did not know each other. She was thrown back a little bit. I think the urban explorer community just got a bit larger.
Check out Urban Explorers’ Official Site, Urban Exploration Resource and Action Squad.
On Saturday after the North Star Roller Girls opener, they and How Was The Show had an after party at Stasiu’s Bar. Doesn’t David Loomer of Twin Cities Live make a good Weird Al?
More bout and party photos by David de Young.
Kyle from Reveille Magazine and I took an after-work day-trip to Eau Claire, Wisconsin to see Justin Vernon aka Bon Iver at The Nucleus last night. It was a hometown reunion show for DeYarmond Edison where Justin was a member. In addition to Bon Iver, opening was Megafaun, which comprises of the members of DeYarmond Edison sans Justin Vernon. So all and all, a very close group.
Racys and the Nucleus is essentially a small restaurant, a small café and a tiny music venue under the same roof. When we arrived around 8pm the show was already sold out. We watched some of Megafaun through the door until we were able to get escorted in.
Bon Iver’s set was intimate, emotional and personal. Here in Eau Claire he was playing to an overcapacity room of long time fans, friends and family. He played from For Emma, Forever Ago and a cover of “Satisfied Mind.” He brought up the folks from Megafaun to back him on the last part of his set ending with “The Wolves” where the crowd sang the backing vocals at Justin’s direction. I was amazed it all came off even better than the album.
DeYarmond Edison played a few pieces on stage and then went into the middle of the room where a large microphone was set up and played acoustically for the rest of the night. They called for more and more crowd participation until the last piece where the band spread out to different parts of the room and everyone sang together. The band dubbed us all the “Eau Claire Choir.”
Kyle thought it quite possibly be his favorite show all year and I can’t agree more. On our way out we nabbed tickets for the Land of Talk show at The Nucleus where Bon Iver will be opening on Tuesday, November 6th. We figured this was well worth the trip and we’re ready to do it again. Justin joked on stage about Land of Talk that “They’re from Montréal. That’s in another country. This might be an Eau Claire first!”
Reveille this week has an interview with Bon Iver and he’ll be playing tonight with Megafaun and Digitata at the Uptown Bar tonight, October 26.
See my Bon Iver and DeYarmond Edison at the Nucleus photos on Flickr.
