Tag: Minneapolis MN
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David Byrne & St. Vincent, Love This Giant, 2012 on 4AD
Two of the most creative and eclectic artists and musicians collaborate here on a brass-band heavy record. (St. Vincent also contributed to Here Lies Love, Byrne’s collaboration with Fatboy Slim – a concept album / rock musical about Imelda Marcos). The Dap-Kings and the Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra join on “The One Who Broke Your Heart”…
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Willie Nelson, Milk Cow Blues, 2000 on Island Records
Originally released in 2000, but issued on vinyl for the first time in 2023, this is Willie singing the blues, with guests including Francine Reed, Keb’ Mo’, Jonny Lang, Dr. John, Susan Tedeschi, B.B. King, and Kenny Wayne Shepherd (doing a mean “Texas Flood”). Mix of Wilie’s own songs plus covers (“The Thrill is Gone.”…
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Otis Redding, The Dock Of The Bay, 1968 on Volt.
This was the first posthumous release after Redding died in 1967, and his seventh studio album. It collected some singles, b-sides, and previously released tracks, including the title track “(Sittin’ On) The Doc of the Bay” which was cowritten by Steve Cropper and Redding. Also has a great version of “Nobody Knows You (When You’re…
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Doomtree, False Hopes, 2007 on Doomtree Records
Doomtree are a hip-hop collective (and record label) from Minneapolis, including Dessa, Cecil Otter, P.O.S., Sims, Mike Mictian, Paper Tiger, and Lazerbeak. False Hopes came out (on CD) before their “debut” album, self-titled Doomtree, in 2008. There were many other “False Hopes” CDs of individual artists. The bandcamp for this release claims “This is the…
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Annie Lennox, Nostalgia, 2014 on Blue Note
Annie Lennox is of course best well known as one half of the dynamic duo that recorded and performed as Eurythmics, but she’s also made a number of wonderful solo albums, going back to 1992’s Diva. This record, issued in the Blue Note Records 75th Anniversary series, has Lennox covering blues / jazz / soul…
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Various Artists, Something About Joy Division, 1990 on Vox Pop
Great compilation / tribute to Joy Division on Italian label Vox Pop. Tracklist: The second edition was not a gatefold (which makes sense since the inside of the gatefold is just blank white anyway). I especially enjoy the versions of “Colony,” “Love Will Tear Us Apart” (piano and vocals), “Shadowplay” (acoustic guitar driven), and Warsaw…
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Various Artists, The Endless Coloured Ways: The Songs of Nick Drake, 2023 on Chrysalis
Tribute album full of covers of Nick Drake songs, by modern artists including: Fontaines D.C., David Gray, John Parish & Aldous Harding, Ben Harper, Joe Henry & Meshell Ndegeocello, Liz Phair, and John Grant (among many others). This pressing also includes a one-sided 7″ single of Nick Drake himself covering Dylan’s “Tomorrow is a Long…
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The Suburbs, Poets Party, 2021 on Suburbs Music (Self-Released)
Before there was The Tortured Poets Department, there was a Poets Party – the most recent release from reliable Minneapolis art-rock stalwarts The Suburbs. I’ve been a fan since the early 80s, and happy to say they keep making great albums. Recorded and mixed at Dream Hog, which is Steve Price’s studio, and produced by…
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Jens Lekman, The Cherry Trees Are Still in Blossom, 2022 on Secretly Canadian
“This is a reconstruction / reimagining / excavation of the album ‘Oh You’re So Silent Jens’ that originally came out in 2005″ Jens Lekman is a very intriguing independent Swedish musician who has put out a series of imaginative releases since 2004. This release is a revisit, 17 years later, of an earlier compilation which…
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S. Carey, Break Me Open, 2022 on Jagjaguwar
S. Carey (aka Sean Carey) is the drummer and backing vocalist from Bon Iver – he put out a solo album All We Grow back in 2010. Break Me Open is his fourth full length under the S. Carey moniker, all on Jagjaguwar – though he has put out some EPs as well. It’s a…
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Superchunk, Wild Loneliness, 2022 on Merge
Twelfth studio album from Superchunk on Merge, the label founded by McCaughan and Ballance back in 1989. Superchunk came out of Chapel Hill in the late 80s and were one of my favorite bands through the 90s. They’ve mellowed a bit but love this album. Guests include Norman Blake, Raymond McGinley, Andy Stack, Mike Mills,…
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Shovels & Rope, Busted Jukebox Volume 3, 2021 on Dualtone
The third in a series of cover albums by Shovels & Rope, this one focuses on kids songs or songs in lullaby style, thus the “Juicebox” joke in the cover. But these are great versions with contemporary artists, including Sharon Van Etten, John Paul White (formerly of The Civil Wars), Felice Brothers, Deertick, M. Ward,…
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Valerie June, Under Cover, 2022 on Fantasy
Valerie June’s a multi-instrumentalist and singer from Memphis and part of the Broken Strings Collective. She’s known broadly for her unique voice and range across Americana / Blues / Folk and put out this EP of cover songs in 2022. All the versions are wonderful, but I especially love her takes on “Pink Moon” and…
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She & Him, Melt Away: A Tribute to Brian Wilson, 2022 on Fantasy
I love tribute albums and cover albums, and also both Brian Wilson and She & Him (the duo of Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward), so this was right in my wheelhouse. It’s their seventh studio album. Nothing very unexpected or out of left field here – pretty straightforward what you’d expect from She & Him…
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Various Artists, Tommy Boy’s Baddest Beats, 2022 on Tommy Boy
I don’t normally chase special releases put out for Record Store Day, but this was an “RSD First” release in 2022, limited to 3500 copies. Great collection of songs from Tommy Boy: Two tracks each from Naughty By Nature and Coolio, otherwise a variety of artists. Some mixed opinions (on Discogs) about the pressing, which…
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OMD, Universal, 1996 on Virgin / EMI
I always loved Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark – the name, with it’s British spelling – and the music. This was their tenth full length album, released in 1996. In many ways this was the end of a dark era for OMD who had fallen out of fashion given grunge, britpop, and other ascendant styles…
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Neil Young with Crazy Horse, Toast, 2022 on Reprise
Back in the early part of the new millennium, Neil Young and Crazy Horse recorded a bunch of songs at Toast, a recording studio at 1340 Mission St. in San Francisco (pictured on the cover). The songs they recorded got shelved and not released until 2022. Volume 8 in the Neil Young Archive’s Special Release…
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Justin Townes Earle, Single Mothers & Absent Fathers, 2022 on Vagrant Records
Combination of two previously released Justin Townes Earle LPs: 2014’s Single Mothers and 2015’s Absent Fathers, issued as a 2xLP release in celebration of Vagrant’s 25th Anniversary on yellow/black splatter vinyl. Putting these two together isn’t crazy, of course – the recording sessions were originally intended to be a double album but turned into two…