Wandering Minnesota

I will confess that I am not much of a reader. Whatever the cause of that, I tend to stick more to magazines rather than books. I maintain a couple magazine subscriptions such as Rolling Stone and Spin. What a surprise, they are music-related mags! I've had a subscription the the prior since I was about 16 years old and discovered Spin a couple of years later through some browsing at a music store.

With the discovery of Spin came the eventual discovery of writer Chuck Klosterman. He has come quite a long way from his beginnings at the Fargo (North Dakota) Forum's attempt at publishing an alt-weekly publication and continued after its demise covering entertainment in the bleak far-north city.

In a couple weeks he returns north to the Twin Cities at the Fitzgerald Theater as part of a music/writing "tour" billed as the Current Fakebook sponsored by The Current. On Friday, February 23rd, Klosterman joins Current jock Mary Lucia as well as Minneapolis indie band Tapes 'n Tapes to discuss his writings, music-based writings of others , music in general and hear Tapes 'n Tapes play. All for a mere $15!

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Hey, remember the nineties? Of course you do! I know I do and from the nineties I remember a certain band with grunge tendancies by the name of "Soul Asylum". While they never went completely away, they did fade from the limelight but that has only allowed them to stay true to their style and last year brought the release of their tenth studio album "The Silver Lining". Beyond the modest success locally of "Stand up and Be Strong", another tune, "Fearless Leader", is getting some love on the Minnesota Music show on Cities 97. Soul Asylum also plays a benefit concert tonight in Minneapolis with another hometown boy, Tim Mahoney. Google it and find out for yourself!

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FREE TUNE!
Fresh off the release of their first full-length disc and a performance on "Late Show with David Letterman", the Cold War Kids have found success. While you can hop over here and grab a few of their earlier tunes from an acoustic EP, the full length "Robbers and Cowards" is in store now. A few radio stations are picking up the tune I'm pimping this week, Hang Me Up To Dry, and by coincidence, the band is swinging through the big city in Minnesota on March 6th. Coincidence, I think not.

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If things seem a bit disjointed the past coupe days it's due to my head being wobbly and my throat being clogged with phlegm. So much so that I was actually home sick yesterday. Hey, it happens and I plan on sleeping it off over the weekend. Enjoy it and stay the hell away from the TV, I found out yesterday that the unnecessarily long NASCAR season starts Sunday. Rednecks rejoice.