Swimmer's Ear Magazine #23

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ear #23

photo issue #3

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Swimmer’s Ear Magazine Number Twenty Three On the cover: Popcorn, back smith. Photo: Nick Wosika

Editors Chris Pernula Adam Sever

Contributing Photographers

Contact/Contribute/Support Swimmer’s Ear P.O. Box 1616 Monticello, MN 55362 Swimmer’s Ear is a product of Subtitles Publishing™

Nicholas Rolstad, self portrait

Laura Austin (LAustinDesign.com) Darin Back Adam Bubolz (ilikethelights.com) Alexa Jones Todd Morgan Paul Pernula Nicholas Rolstad (myspace.com/neonloveclothing) Sandbox Michael Stenerson Nick Wosika (Letter3Photography.com) Joe Zimmerman

Joe Zimmerman, Frontside 3. Photo: Todd Morgan

memo:

welcome to the photo issue Cokey with a BS smith in Fargo. Photo by Sandbox

Backyard Park

Left: Chris Pernula, layback slide. Photo: Paul Right: Paul Pernula, boardslide. Photo: Chris

Montana Top: Bozeman. Photo: Nicholas Rolstad Bottom Left: Craig Norgaard, Wildcat. Photo: Joe Zimmerman Bottom Right: Matt Larson, Wildcat. Photo: Joe Zimmerman

Nicholas Rolstad, self portrait

Patrick Sharrow. Photo: Nicholas Rolstad

CHANGE IN SOUND Alina Simone Everyone is Calling Out To Me, Beware "Everyone is Crying Out to Me, Beware" is a cover album featuring the music of Russian cult icon, Yanka Dyagileva, a Siberian punk-folk singer who drowned under mysterious circumstances in 1991. Ukrainian born, but U.S. raised Alina Simone sings the entire album in the Russian language. The music and Alina's voice are pretty good. I can only see people who are a fan of Alina's music or enjoy Russian sung folk, to enjoy this album. Others may be bored with it.(5440 or fight) Alkaline Trio Agony and Irony After some label issues, Alkaline has finally jumped the indie label dingy to the major label cruise ship called Epic and it seems they lost their luggage, aka integrity, in the transition. "Agony and Irony" isn't bad, it's better than "Crimson", but with this release they have moved on from the sound and tone of their early albums, and fans of those albums are going to hate this. "Agony and Irony" sounds way over produced and radio friendly. It's the kind of album that your mom would like and might even suggest to you after she heard it on top 40. To truly enjoy this album, I suggest you turn off your indie morals and enjoy the music. It will sound worse if you think about what you’re listening to. (Epic) Annabel Now That We're Alive "Now That We're Alive" features 5 infectious indie pop jams. It seems Annabel took a class in emo history and was influenced by bands such as The Get Up Kids and The Anniversary. "Now That We're Alive" is a fairly good album, and hopefully they continue with this sound on their next album. (Self-Released) The Anniversary Devil On Our Side: Rarities and B-Sides Nearly five years after they broke up, The Anniversary pleased fans by releasing a double disc set of rarities and b-sides spanning the time between "Designing a Nervous Breakdown" and "Your Majesty". "Devil On Our Side" is a stroll down memory lane when emo was just starting to get trendy. There are some real gems on these albums, but the songs may suffer from under production and that the days of this style of music is over. If you want to get nostalgic, buy this album.(Vagrant) Astpai Corruption Concealed (Under Deceptive Slogans) Astpai is a punk band from Austria that sound like a mixture of From Ashes Rise and TheLawrence Arms. With alternating vocalists, Corruption Concealed stays more interesting than if there were only one singer. (Jump Start Records)

Beehatch BeeHatch Beehatch is the new collaborative project from Phil Weston (Download, Plateau) and Mark Spybey (Dead Voices on Air). The experimental noise/ambience genre is one that I’ve never gotten into and I’ve hated on Mark’s music in the past, but this Beehatch does have a few bright spots on it. (Lens Records) The Bellrays Hard Sweet And Sticky Hard Sweet and Sticky, the latest release from CA’s The Bellrays is packed to the gills with soulful singing from Lisa Kekaula and rocking guitars provided by Bob Vennum. The Bellrays have plenty of talent but whenever I listen to them, I imagine them headlining nightly barroom shows and I can’t figure out why. (Anodyne Records) Bird Names Open Relationship It is impossible to tell you what Bird Names sounds like, but I will try. Imagine pop, country, folk, and psych rock fused together into each song cohesively, not chaotically, and you have what Bird Names is. I can only wonder what kind of influences this band has to be so musically diverse. Somehow they are all over the place and tight at the same time. (Unsound Records) Birthmark The Layer Birthmark is Nate Kinsella’s (Make Believe, Joan of Arc, December’s Architects) solo project and The Layer is his first release. You’d be surprised what a great voice Nate has and why he is hiding all this talent behind the drum kit when he could easily be a successful solo artist. The track “Flightless Bird” may be one of the best songs released this year. (Coraille) Braindead No Consequences "No Consequences" is a raw, ambitious, and divers hardcore album. It clocks in at just over 23 minutes and is brutal all the way through. You can tell the influences of east coast hardcore like Civ, Quicksand and Turning Point. (Burn Bridges Records)

CHANGE IN SOUND Brass Set & Drift Set & Drift is the 8-song debut from Brass, which sounds like a post punk version of Minus the Bear. Vocalist Joe Webber has a strong and distinct voice while the rest of the band combine post punk, math rock, and the DC area sound into a tightly woven album that I would recommend checking out. (Self-Released)

Empire! Empire! (I Was Lonely Estate) Year of the Rabbit 7” Empire! Empire! sounds like a mixture of the Appleseed Cast, American Football and Explosions in the Sky with vocals like Geoff Rickley from Thursday (during the slow parts). This 7” shows a lot of promise for a future full-length. (Count Your Lucky Stars Records)

Broadway Calls S/T Pop punk is still alive and well, and good too thanks to Oregon’s Broadway Calls. Their self-titled release is 14 songs that will have you singing along the whole way through. There isn’t one song on this album that disappoints. (Adeline Records)

Extra Life Secular Works Extra Life is the new band led by ex-Dirty Projectors guitarist Charlie Looker. The closest thing that I can relate this band to is Tool. The music is quite adventurous, ups and downs in song rhythm and interesting chant like vocals make this album far from being forgettable. (Planaria Recordings)

Brothers and Sisters Fortunately On their second release, Texas's Brothers and Sisters combine country twang with 60s pop sensibilities, kinda like a country version of Chicago's The 1900's. I normally don't get into country like this, but this album is easy to get into and hard to forget. (Calla Lily) The Coast Expatriate The Coast is a Canadian band and "Expatriate" is their debut full length. They couldn't have done a better job on their debut than they did with this ablum. Each song is good and has a high repeat factor. Once the major indie media gets a hold of this album, this band is gonna blow up. Get in on the ground floor now! (Aporia Records) Collections of Colonies of Bees Birds Birds has the feeling of flight, soaring through soundscapes meticulously designed to please the ear. Somewhat of a departure from their previous Customer, Birds follows a more conventional guitar, bass and drums and relies less on electronic elements. CoCoBees have a way to make the listener find something new each time they listen, without getting bored. (Table of Elements) Drag the River You Can't Live This Way You Can’t Live This Way is the latest release from indie county purveyors Drag the River. Sure, You Can’t Live This Way is an excellent album, I just never could never get into the whole Americana indie rock scene. (Suburban Home)

Falcon Arrow S/T Falcon Arrow is an instrumental band from Minneapolis with drums and looping bass riffs. There are no other words to describe this album, other than amazing. The drumming is tight and the bass is inventive, never making this album boring. Their closest brethren in the instrumental genre would be Dianogah due to the similarities in bass work . Each song is in the two to four minute range, which keeps the album from stalling out. A great debut and I can't wait for more materital from this band. (Self-Released) Finest Dearest Finest Dearest At first listen this band’s music reminded me of The Cranberries, with female vocals reminiscent of Minneapolis’s Vox Vermillion or Sleater-Kinney. Their debut album is quite good and is a good indicator of where this band is headed. (Bloodtown Records) Foot Foot Trumpet Los Angeles’s married folk duo Foot Foot are back with the fury of a full band to back up their interesting sound. Trumpet is good, but at almost a hour long, it struggles to keep my attention all the way through. (Oedipus) song and Marie Litton's vocals shine through with complete compatibility (Suburban Home)

CHANGE IN SOUND Ghost of the Russian Empire The Mammoth Ghost of the Russian Empire is the Austin, TX band with a big name and an even bigger sound. The Mammoth sounds similar to Radiohead, but more straight on rock. Each song is a layered sonic landscape and well played. (Self-Released) Girl Talk Feed The Animals Gregg Gillis, aka Girl Talk, is the ultimate mash up artist. Where other musicians mash up two bands together, each song on "Feed the Animals" is comprised of 20 plus samples from different artist to create whole "original" songs. It is quite fun to listen and notice all the samples you can recognize. One of the best parts of "Feed the Animals" is on the song "like this" where he mashes Lil Mama "Lip Gloss" rapping over Metallica's guitar riff from "One". So, so brilliant. You can currently purchase this album on the Girl Talk website for any price you want. (Illegal Art) The Hard Lessons B&G Sides "B&G Sides" starts off on the right foot with the track "See and Be Scene" with anthemic guitar riffs, winding moog and a catchy hook. From there, the rest of the album doesn't falter but never reaches the same level of awesomeness that first track had. A pretty good album overall, but I wish they would have kept the ingredients in the first song throughout the album. (Quack Media) Head Like A Kite There Is Loud Laughter Everywhere Head Like A Kite’s latest album sound more like an electronic Beck album then a Head Like a Kite album. Their previous album was chock full of guest vocalists and was a pretty good album. There are some good songs on There Is Loud Laughter Everywhere, but skips over the line into electronic few too many times and looses its focus. (Mush Records) Her Space Holiday XOXO Panda: The New Kid Revival Although I’ve heard a lot about Her Space Holiday, I’ve never heard their music until this album. This album is pretty good all the way through, but after a few listens, you start to notice the similarities in all the songs. Each song’s beat is emphasized with the tambourine or handclaps, which makes it feel as though they had the same beat in their mind throughout

recording, and just changed the music around that one beat. As long as you don’t pay any attention to it, this album is great. (Mush Records) Incommunicado Losing Daylight Incommunicado, despite having a Spanish sounding name, are from Pittsburgh, PA. They play punk with the intensity of early At The Drive-In with a slight Bouncing Souls feel. (A-F Records) The Interiors The Interiors This album is solid all the way through. Each song has it’s own personality, but the album has a cohesive feel. There is plenty of inventive song-writing and hooks throughout. (54-40 or Fight!) Joan of Arc Boo Human Rumors have circulated that this album was influenced by the divorce of lead JOA’s Tim Kinsella and his wife. From listening to this album, you can tell the lyrics are directed at someone and Tim isn’t pleased with them. The music on Boo Human is probably the most straight forward and accessible music in the Joan of Arc catalog. Tim still continues to get better and better with each release. (Polyvinyl Records) Jr. Juggernaut Ghost Poison Jr. Juggernaut is the sound of American guitar rock in the same vain as Springsteen and Mellencamp. This Los Angeles band combines three part harmonies with guitars and the occasional harmonica to produce something wholly down to earth. (Suburban Home) Justice of the Unicorns Angels with Uzis Angels with Uzis starts the album off with sounds of a cheerful crowd getting interrupted by gunfire and ends with people screaming. Justice of the Unicorn sounds like Neil Young, Say Hi, and the Comas with the juvenile lyrics of The Aquabats. For an example, listen to the song “Jesus Had a Sweet Girlfriend” The music is pretty good, inventive and fun; things that I think that they were going for. (Little Lamb Recordings)

CHANGE IN SOUND Kay Kay and his Weathered Underground Kay Kay and his Weathered Underground Kay Kay and His Weathered Underground features members of Gatsby’s American Dream, the Lashes, Forgive Durden, the Northwest Philharmonic plus more and at times sounds like if Ben Folds was pioneering a psychedelic vaudeville act. There is so much going on at once on this vinyl only release that it makes for a real interesting and quite enjoyable listen. (Suburban Home)

Make Believe Going to the Bone Church Going to the Bone Church is everything you’d expect from Make Believe. Tim’s inventive yelping/breathy singing, Sam’s quirky guitar playing, Bobby’s tight basslines, and Nate’s kinetic drumming. The future of Make Believe is still up in the air as members leave and rejoin, thus leaving listeners wondering if this is the bands last album. In any case, Going to the Bone Church is the best album they could’ve ended their band on. (Flameshovel)

LaGrecia On Parallels After None More Black broke up, lead singer Jason Shevchuk set out on his own with On Guard, which eventually turned into LaGrecia. "On Parallels" can't touch other things he's done with Kid Dynamite and None More Black, but it's a good album nonetheless. One thing that kind of mares the album is knowing that Jason wrote and recored this album, then dumped his bandmates and label to go back to None More Black. If Jason cares so little about this release, then why should you? (Suburban Home Records)

Maps & Atlases You and Me and The Mountain Maps & Atlases can do no wrong. This EP is a step in the right direction for this band. Their last release, "Trees, Swallows, Houses" had more technical, spastic, yet tight guitars, and was more in your face where "You and Me and The Mountain" is on the floor with you encouraging you to sing along and tap whatever appendage you can. Each song is amazing in musicianship and listen-ability. (Sargent House)

Little Pieces Little Pieces Little Pieces is an indie rock band from Seattle, WA and features ex-Sunset Valley guitarist Herman Jolly. The songs on the album are mostly upbeat that sound like a full band Portastatic. (One Eleven Records) Look Mexico The Crucial Collection The Crucial Collection is a collection of the bands' first two releases, So Byzantine EP and The Crucial EP, with exclusive b-side remixes from The Dark Romantics doing "Done and Done." and History Invades doing "You Ever Get Punched In The Face For Talking Too Much?", plus a Chris Rucker remix of "You Come Into My House, While I Sleep?". This is a must for any Look Mexico fan or any fan of music in general. Not buying this means you hate music. And babies. (Lujo Records) Lumerians Lumerians Lumerians debut EP is like a soundtrack to Earth’s formation. Thundering basslines, weaving organs and waves of percussion combined with male and female vocals. The sounds are dark at times, and bright at others. They mix equal parts Doors’ psychedelia and Can’s prog without the use of guitars, all the while keeping it modern. (Subterranean Elephants)

Meho Plaza S/T Woah man, Meho Plaza is crazy. They are a pop band that is experimentally synth driven that sound quite good. I enjoy how the vocals are calmly sung while all the chaos is going on in the background. (Better Looking Records) Miss Autopsy The Hill This album makes me feel uncomfortable, like watching strangers fight or when a parent punishes their kid out in public. Steve Beyerink’s vocals and lyrics sound as though they are pleading and begging with the audience to listen to them. Like a little kid going "Look at me, look at me, I'm doing something bad. Come on, look at me!" The awkwardness of this album almost feels intentional as if playing something different like this is going to make people like you. (Lens Records) Mixel Pixel Let’s Be Friends Mixel Pixel is a band the hipsters will flock to. Interweaving boy/girl vocals, somewhat lo-fi electronic, lyrics about relationships and enough quirkiness to call it cool. It’s one of those bands that the one hipster will love and then once everyone else gets into it, he hates on it. Let’s Be Friends has a couple of good songs on it and a couple that will most likely get skipped over. (Mental Monkey Records)

CHANGE IN SOUND Neva Dinova You May Already Be Dreaming Neva Dinova features Jake Bellows, a touring member and contributor to Bright Eyes, and Roger Lewis, drummer for The Good Life, so it’s appropriate that You May Already Be Dreaming was released on Saddle Creek. The album starts off with a couple of slow country-esque songs, similar to Songs: Ohia, which lead into some poppy folk songs and even some fast rocking ones. You May Already Be Dreaming is a pretty good album overall. (Saddle Creek)

The Plastic Constellations We Appreciate You We Appreciate You is the final album that the boys in MN’s The Plastic Constellations will release. They’ve been doing this band since their high school days and have developed a signature sound that will be missed. We Appreciate You features TPC at their finest. They have crafted a number of memorable songs with this release and it’s their best to date. (French Kiss Records)

One Win Choice Never Suspend Disbelief One Win Choice is familiar east coast melodic hardcore. They have a similar delivery/sound to Strike Anywhere and Voice in the Wire. One Win Choice isn’t treading any new ground with these songs, but they are keeping the flame burning on the genre. (Jump Start Records)

Pomegranates Everything Is Alive My first impression of this band was a bad one. I had listened to songs on the computer and nothing grabbed me as good and I quickly deleted the files. Later on, I popped this album in when I was cleaning or something and the pure genius started to take hold of me. So much so that I listened to this album all the way through on the way to work and back for a good two weeks straight, which roughly equates to 20 spins. Everything is Alive is relaxing indie pop. Every song has one part that just melts you into loving it. (Lujo Records)

The Out_Circuit Pierce the Empire With a Sound Pierce the Empire With a Sound seems like a foray into the epic unknown. Dark, drawn-out soundscapes, fuzzed out distorted guitars, and quick tight drumming is what this album equates to. Pierce the Empire With a Sound is at times inspiring, while some moments leave me wanting something else entirely. (Lujo Records) Oxford Collapse Bits "Bits" sounds like a modern day New York Indie band, which is a good thing, since they are from Brooklyn. This is their second album on the Sub Pop label and easily they best yet. Oxford Collapse is one of those bands that all the other bands want to see play live. They’re a band's band. The music is tight and inventive and doesn't disappoint on "Bits". (Sub Pop) Paint it Black New Lexicon I was looking forward to this album, because Paint it Black’s two previous albums have been quite good. Overall New Lexicon is good, but the industrial noise contributed by Oktopus (Dalek) could have been cut out. I understand that Dan Yemin was going for something different by having Oktopus's interludes in between songs, but it ruined the intensity and urgency that Paint it Black is known for. (Jade Tree Records)

Putois The Problem Is Not A Problem Anymore Putois has been the project that Bob Mason has recorded under for the last ten years. The Problem Is Not A Problem Anymore is fifty minutes of lo-fi bedroom indie with dark, heart felt lyrics. The Problem Is Not A Problem Anymore is a good album, but only something I’d put on if I was feeling somber. (Cerebral Cliff Records) Pygmy Lush Mount Hope Pygmy Lush features ex members of Pg.99, Majority Rule, Malady, City of Caterpillar and Haram. "Mount Hope" is lush and simplistic, but the simple instrumentation still get the message across and is a great follow-up to their previous album "Bitter River". (Lovitt) The Quiet Life Act Natural The Quiet Life blend classic country/folk, complete with slide guitars, with indie rock to create a modern American Folk sound. Did I mention that this band is from the Yankee North; Connecticut to be exact. Sounds like these are usually reserved for the southern gents, but these yanks to a fine job of it. (Safety Meeting Records)

CHANGE IN SOUND Rahim Laughter This bands name reminds me of 90's rap artists Eric B and Rakim, but "Laughter" is nothing like rap music. At all. Each listen of the album reveals increasingly complex melodies, varying vocal harmonies and a wide array of musical instruments, including horns, vibraphones and garbage cans. (Pretty Activity Records)

Scream Hello Smart & Stupid EP This EP from Scream Hello is a precursor to their new full length that is due out in a few months. They have a Braid/Hey Mercedes sound going on, but in with more punk roots. If their upcoming full length sounds anything like this, we are all in for a treat. (Red Leader Records)

Robert Scott Thompson Poesis Athesis "Poesis Athesis" is the latest release by internationally acclaimed (really?) composer Robert Scott Thompson and is an astoundingly long album at nearly 78 minutes. It was is was originally written to accompany Chi Kung Master Terrence Dunn’s video series, the Flying Phoenix form of Chi Kung, a slow form Tai Chi exercise. These would be great for Tai Chi, the songs are slow moving and intricate. If listening to this for any other reason though, it may cause sleepiness. (Lens Records)

Static Radio NJ An Evening of Bad Decisions... "An Evening of Bad Decisions..." starts off high paced and never lets up. They have a style similar to Lifetime and the intensity to match. "An Evening of Bad Decisions..." is an all around well written punk album. Take a chance and give it a listen. (Black Numbers)

Russian Circles Station Russian Circles took hold of the instrumental metal genre with their 2006 release of Enter and are now back with a new label and a new member. Brian Cook of Botch and These Arms Are Snakes lends his bass abilities and his influences are felt on this release. Just listen to “Harper Lewis” for a good example of Brian’s thick bass licks. Station begs to be listened to on a stereo system with large speakers. An ipod will not due this album justice. (Suicide Squeeze Records) The Saint Alvia Cartel S/T This album sounds like a bunch of dudes hanging out writing music and having a blast doing it. Lots of group vocals with organ accompaniment. Influences from many genres can be heard on this album from The Hold Steady to melodic hardcore to ska core. The energy exuded from this album is contagious. (Stomp Records) Scott Reynolds & The Steaming Beast Adventure Boy This band is lead by Scott Reynolds, former vocalist of ALL, and is the kind of music an aging rocker is expected to make that has a Dave Matthews quality to it. Adventure Boy walks the line between classic indie pop rock with influences from Pinback and Crystal Skulls to lounge music. It’s an overall pleasant listen, but nothing mind-blowing. (Suburban Home Records)

Stepsonday Little Light Stepsonday is a duo of brothers from Santa Monica, CA with a vocalist that sounds a little like Weezer’s Rivers Cuomo. They craft perfect little pop songs similar to Weezer, that are honest and heartfelt. Some might say that Stepsonday play it safe with this release and don’t take enough chances with the music, which is true, there is a certain amount of familiarity with this album and the genre it comes from. (One Eleven Records) Them,Roaring Twenties Future Sandwich Them, Roaring Twenties sound is very similar to citymates Maps and Atlases, but the differences are in the vocals of each band. The sparse vocals of Them, Roaring Twenties are usually changed with computer effects or quick talking/screams, while Maps and Atlases vocals are high pitched and discernable. This album is packaged with a mini board game that allows you to travel the streets of Chicago. (Sickroom Records) They and the Children Home They and the Children fuse ambient noise with hardcore which creates a feeling of an experimental From Ashes Rise. "Home" is an all out assault on your ears and mind with nearly forty minutes of brain splitting hardcore. With this release, they have found a place that few have traveled, and are blazing new trails in the process. (Kill Normal)

CHANGE IN SOUND V/A Keep Singing! A Benefit for Compassion Over Killing Compilation This is a benefit CD for Compassion Over Killing, an animal rights group. The album features exclusive tracks by Strike Anywhere, Life at these Speeds, Des Ark, Gina Young, and more. Most of the artists are either from the singer/songwriter or heavy punk/post punk genres. As a bonus to this CD, the Liner notes feature selected vegetarian recipes from the artists on the CD, plus a PDF version that you can share. (Exotic Fever) When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth Not Noiice This duel drummed, duel guitared, duel vocaled beast known as When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth have a sound that is big as a dinosaur. If you cloned Milemarker a couple of times and made them record an album with their original human selves, the result would be Not Noiice. (Chalk Circle Records) Young Widows Old Wounds Young Widows is a band that feels most comfortable playing live. "Old Wounds" was recorded over the course of a few live shows and in studio performances, then all the best parts pieced together to create the best sounding song. "Old Wounds' goes far and above their previous album "Settle Down City" and it puts them at a greater distance than their previous band Breather Resist. An excellent sophomore album. (Temporary Residence) Jacksonknife You Don't Know What You're Talking About Jackson Knife is a band from NYC who blend Maritime-esque jams with controlled genre switching. Throughout this EP, Jacksonknife easily switches genres from horn-laden rock to string accompanied folk songs. This 6 song EP is a great intro to this band. (Self-Released) Jackson United Harmony and Dissidence I don't know how Chris Shiflett divides his time between playing in the Foo Fighters and writing songs for his band Jackson United. It's a shame that the music media only focuses on Dave Grohl's musical outputs, because Shiflett's Jackson United continuously writes great music. "Harmony and Dissidence" has currently only been physically released in Japan and Australia and digitally in the U.S. (Liberator Music)

Hecuba Sir I guess I don't get this band. Devendra Banhart says that “They are best band in LA”. I turned off the album before it was even halfway through. There is an odd mixture of musical influences represented in each song, such as: doo-wop, down tempo cartoon music, video game drone, and techno. (Manimal Vinyl) Son, Ambulance Someone Else's Déjà Vu Drenched in 60's and 70's pop and psychedelia, Son, Ambulance that at some times sounds good and bad. The opening track, " A Girl in New York City", starts out at a fast tempo, with a Paul Simon feel, while the next track, "Legend of Lizeth", lead singer Joseph Knapp makes it sound like a cheesy Adam Sandler love song. The rest of the album is hit or miss. (Saddle Creek) Daedelus Love To Make Music To I was quite pleased with the first track, "Fair Weather Friends", off of Daedulus's new long player, "Love To make Music To". It is an upbeat dance song complete with hand claps and a driving melody. I was hoping the rest of the album would be in the same vain, but I was sadly mistaken. "Love To make Music To" sees Daedelus using rap artists over his beats, which is a nice change but the rapper has to be good for it to work. Here, some do and some don't. (Ninja Tune) Narrows S/T 7" EP Fans of Botch will instantly recognize the vocals on this 3 song EP, because they are none other than ex-Botch vocalist Dave Verellen's. This band also features members of Tropics, These Arms are Snakes, Makeout Boys, and Some Girls. Narrows sounds a lot like Botch, but you can't fuck with the original. (Deathwish Inc.)

Album Reviews by Adam Sever

va r i a n c e

variancevariancevariancevariancevariancevariancevariancevariance variancevariancevariancevariancevariancevariancevariancevariance variancevariancevariancevariancevariancevariancevariancevariance variancevariancevariancevariancevariancevariancevariancevariance Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Zach Plague Zach Plague aka Zach Dodson is a very talented graphic designer by trade. Going into this book, Zach created an image for this book that is rarely seen in mainstream publishing. Zach gave each character their own font and bolded and italicized words to show emphasis. Choosing to design the book at its signature stage, 16 pages on one sheet, Zach not only designed a cool looking book but large posters that go along with it. It is truly something that has to been seen to understand. The story details the troubled relationship of Ollister and Adelaide and the mysterious grey papers that Ollister needs find before the Platypus gets his hands on them. An intriguing story that will surprise you with each plot twist and development. (Featherproof Books) Randy Laybourne Zines Randy Laybourne has been making these zines for a while now and they keep getting better and better. His two latest zines are filled with Randy's signature photograpy and art. "It's Time For Dinner But Nobody's Hungry" features guest artists Pete Taras, Dustin Koop, Jason Lee, Pam Gilmour, and Stella Muehlhausen and "Time and Place" feature guest artists Aaron Martinz, Mel Kadel, and Travis Millard.

Susio’s Dirty Nuts Get your hands on these dirty nuts. Quality 1” all black skate hardware. Check out Susios.com to find out how you can get a set of your own, or scout out your local MN shops and parks.

Dudes Dudes Dudes This is a free video from DVS shoes, featuring the excellent skating of Kerry Getz, Daewon Song, Jeron Wilson, Zared Bassett, Torey Pudwill, Chico Brenes, Steve Berra, Mark Baines, Paul Shier, and many more. It’s a straightforward video, no B.S. or flair, just good skating. Pretty much what you’d expect. Some good tunes by The Hidden Cameras, M Ward, Jens Lekman, Black Mountain, an old song I forgot about by Zero Zero, and a hilarious song by the Greenskeepers that features lines from Silence of the Lambs. Put the lotion in the basket.

db

Dance Band

Photo by Darin Back

Clap your hands like this

Interview with Spacebar You came to the Twin Cities from Gammalon because it was in desperate need of booty shaking lessons. Do you feel other cities are less inhibited? It seems us Minnesotans are prone to standing still with our arms crossed at shows. We frankly haven't been to that many other cities yet, but no, they're just as inhibited. Most of the time when we play for a crowd that hasn't seen us before there's a lot of blank stares, like, who the hell are these people? I think that people expect that we are putting them on, that we're playing some kind of joke on them, but it's really pretty straight forward and usually by the middle of the set folks have warmed up a bit and start getting into it, which is always great cause it allows us to be more into it and we put on a better show as a result. We're really a fairly ridiculous thing to be confronted with cold, y'know? But even though our act is ridiculous in appearance, we are trying to make the best music and the best performance that we are able to; it's just put through this lens of our personalities and the fact that we think we should be having as much fun as possible. There's no point in trying to sit there and act cool, you gotta put yourself out there. Video evidence suggests that your mission has been very successful. Have you gotten the response you were hoping for from audience members? Absolutely. This whole thing would fail utterly if people weren't into it. It's really a big collaboration between us and the audience.

As I said before, when the crowd is feeling the show it really changes the dynamics of your performance and makes the whole show better. How did it feel to receive Picked to Click and Best Live Artist last year? Did it come as a surprise? It was pretty rad. We had something of a hint about the Picked To Click thing, but the Best Live Artist was a complete surprise. I picked up the City Pages one day and it was like "what the"? You guys have such a funky sound. Who influences you musically? We are all over the place. I think pretty much everyone in the band is in to different things. None of us had ever made dance music before. To give you a run down of some of the big ones: Fugazi, Talking Heads, Parliament, Hall & Oats, Fela Kuti, Giorgio Moroder, Marvin Gaye, a lot of older stuff. And a lot of stuff that should probably never be put together into one thing. Who are some of your favorite bands to play with? There are a lot of excellent bands in the twin cities right now. Best Friends Forever, Fort Wilson Riot, Mystery Palace, The Battle Royale, Mel Gibson & The Pants, Nobot, MUte ErA, A Paper Cup Band, Screamin Cyn Cyn & The Pons (they're from Madison).

“We are trying to make the best music and the best performance that we are able to”

“We are really trying to emphasize performance as an art form”

Photo by Alexa Jones

Do you feel that it is more important for fans to see your live performance than to listen at home? What can people expect from your show? We are firm believers in live music, but also realize that that's not always possible. We are trying to capture the energy of of live show as best we can on our recordings, but they're kind of two different things. We are really trying to emphasize performance as an art form, even in recordings. And that might seem like a strange thing to say about recording, cause that's the point, but what I mean is an unmediated kind of performance that doesn't involve computer correction. It seems like a lot of records these days, especially pop records, are so tweaked on Pro Tools that it just kills a lot of the vibe cause it all ends up sounding like it was made by robots. Everyone wants to go back in and make sure that every drum hit is spot on and every vocal is pitch corrected and all that. Where we're coming from is that you should just be good enough to perform it on the recording and let it stand cause there's some things that computers just can't emulate. And I know all this sounds weird, cause I play the computer, for fuck's sake, but hey, DB is built on paradox and hyperbole. We're also not the type of group to go into the studio and write and then perform it. We generally write our songs and then perform them out for at least six months so we can tweak them to people's reaction before we think about recording them. What is the wildest thing that has happened on stage during your set? We had some poor gentleman who was rather intoxicated try and clamber onto stage, trip over the monitor, and then fall and crack his head open on the floor of the Entry. Bad scene, paramedics, stop the show, all that. Yeah, don't do that. What does the future hold for Dance Band? We're just going to keep hittin' it as hard as we can and see what happens. We're recording an EP next month that is really exciting. The working title is Geekadelic. That should hopefully be out in November if everything goes well. But yeah, we'll just keep on buildin' it!

Photo by Darin Back

“We're just going to keep hittin' it as hard as we can and see what happens”

Years 20

of Cal Surf

Interview with Scott Ore s c h n i c k What's the story behind the name? Did you used to carry windsurfing gear? I did not name the store, but the story as I know it has the name decided upon because the store sold skateboards and in 1988 there weren't really any skate clothing brands, so surf brands made up the bulk of the clothing inventory. We are located next to lake Calhoun (hence the Cal) and the Surf was more of a "surf the earth" kind of deal...surf, skate, snowboard. The store never stocked any windsurfing gear. Has the shop always been in the same location? The store started as part of the bottom floor in this location and we grew to take over the whole building. The size of the space definitely limited our growth, but we have our roots in Uptown and there are not too many bigger spaces and definitely none we can afford. Have you ever had plans to open a second store? I would rather find a bigger space than do a second store. I have been approached about buying other shops and converting them to Cal Surfs, but I didn't want to take on the headache. If I was to do a second store I would want to start fresh from top to bottom and design it to our liking. What has been the most rewarding thing about running the shop? The people I get to associate with on a daily basis. I get to work with skateboarders and snowboarders every day...from the staff to the customers. Hopefully we help kids make the decision to become a skater or snowboarder for life rather than just be some kook that bought a skateboard. I get to be around creative people all of the time and I learn something new everyday. What made you decide to turn the second floor into an art gallery? We have many customers that go to school for graphic design, photography, video production, etc. I was approached by several customers that asked if I would allow them to display art in one of our front windows.

I said no problem as long as you hang it. It took about four years before somebody finally took advantage of that and once one person displayed something we were asked regularly by other customers if they could display something as well. Eventually we had enough people asking that I figured it made more sense to devote some real space for the art to hang than to keep snowboards on display in the middle of summer. We made a commitment to the customers that have supported us throughout the years. How does Cal Surf stand out from other Minnesota shops? We have history. We have been around twenty years and that is tough to do in this business. Most people go out of business in a down cycle or they burn out on running a store. It is not a great way to get rich. We care about skateboarding and snowboarding not just for today but for what they have been and what they will be. It doesn't matter if it is cool to skate tomorrow or not. We will still be skating. It doesn't matter to us if you skate ditches or boxes, you still skate and we respect that. How has skateboarding changed since the shop opened twenty years ago? It has grown exponentially and has brought a more diverse population to skateboarding. When I started skating, it was all punk rock, skaters were politically and socially active and you were stoked just to meet another skater that actually lived in your state. You knew every skater in your state. Now there are all types of people skating- creative types, jocks, five year olds, mall kids- whoever. Skateboarding does not define people that skateboard the way it used to. There are many people who skateboard, but far fewer that are skaters. You guys recently had an anniversary party and a special shoe release, any other events planned for this year? We definitely have some stuff coming up that we can't discuss yet. We will have a few more art shows, some more special make-up products, etc. We play it loose and many of our opportunities are last minute, so you will know when we do. Will skateboarding ever go back underground? I hope not. There are so many opportunities for skateboarders right now. Lots of kids are sponsored, some pros can make a living, there are more and better parks, a lot of jobs in the skateboarding industry are available... lots of good stuff. However, I hope things constrict a little bit to get all of the people in skateboarding that are just in it to make a buck out of the industry. A kid doesn't learn about skateboarding at a mall store. If that kid is sold the wrong product and he or she just spent his or her year's allowance on a new complete, it is probably the last skateboard he or she buys. That store will not nurture a skateboarder. I hope our industry does not continue to favor chain stores, mail orders, box stores over the independent skate shops. The independent shop gives skateboarders a place to hang out, meet up, support each other. It supports skateboarders. If skate shops are gone there will be a lot fewer skateboarders coming up. I also think that although skateboarding will never shrink to the paltry number of skaters there was when I started, the DIY ethos will always exist in skateboarding. Although there are a ton of kids that skate that aren't "skateboarders", skateboarders still work to find their spots or they create them if they can't find a spot. There are more people pouring concrete, building garage ramps, etc....creating spots. The kids doing small local skateboard companies and local videos also can keep skating underground. So although skating may not go underground, the underground is alive and well in skateboarding!

Interview with Colin Johnson Photography by Adam Bubolz

How does Me and You Cherry Red compare to last year's Virgin Dust American Lips? Were there any major changes as far as writing and recording? "Me and You Cherry Red," was more of a focused mood where all of the stuff was written at the same time as opposed to assembling and organizing a portion of the songs we wrote over the first year of being a band. "Virgin Dust..." was done in a studio, whereas "Cherry Red" was recorded in our practice space by us. Doing it ourselves gave everything a more laid back feel and it was easier to experiment because we didn't have the stress of wasting anyone's time but our own. Was there any pressure to put out another album so soon, or was it more of a natural occurrence? We just got home from tour and were so eager to write new stuff that it came about really naturally. The only pressure we felt was having it live up to our expectations. It was all written and recorded in a little over two months. A lot of late nights and doubts about the recording technique but it all just kind of worked itself out. What inspires your songwriting? People and America. I know that sounds awfully dumb, but it's such an interesting place to live and there are some fucking strange people here, and touring really opened our eyes to that. The best part of traveling so much is that it takes you out of you perceived comfort zone every night and forces you to adapt to your situation. There are times where it makes you feel like half a person and others when you find yourself having one of the best conversations of your life with someone you wouldn't have met under any other circumstance, and it's really exciting. This country is so huge and bizarre, it's indescribable, but we try, hahaha. Favorite local bands to play with? There is so much great and interesting stuff right now that I'm afraid I'll leave someone off, but a short list would definitely include: Daughters of the Sun, Skoal Kodiak, To Kill a Petty Bourgeoise, STNNNG, Blind Shake, Birthday Suits, Tender Meat, Private Dancer, Spiritual Mansions, Mute Era, Pet.s, Gay Beast, Sarah Johnson, Knife World um...I know I'm forgetting some, but that's just off the top of my head. You've already toured quite a bit this year, what does the rest of 2008 look like as far as touring? We're doing a week in July with Daughters of the Sun, and then a month on the East coast and Midwest in the fall.

Has the increase in gas prices put a strain on touring and playing out of town? Getting out west has become more difficult for sure. Most of the drives are long and coming from Minneapolis, there's not really a quick way to get out there. It's too bad because some of our favorite places to play like Missoula or Oakland aren't easily accessible, it's not like you can just do them on the weekend. What do you do on the road to keep yourselves occupied between shows? We listen to and talk about music. It seems like such an obvious answer, but it eats up probably 90% of our time. Some of us will be reading or sleeping and a song will come on that sparks this huge debate of whether or not it's good, and what's good or bad about the production. I think touring has helped us all become so much more aware of what we like and what makes an album stand up to repeated listens. We listened to "Time of the Last Persecution" by Bill Fay upwards of maybe 15-20 times this last tour, almost once a day. The fact that we could do that not only speaks volumes about how amazing that record is, but also gives us the drive to create something as timeless and addictive. How was SXSW this year? Any memorable moments or performances? SXSW was fun, I guess. Hahaha, that sounds so shitty, but we were there for a total of 35 hours, 10 of which were dedicated to sleeping, so it wasn't like we were able to soak it in. We went to a party on a bridge where Pissed Jeans and Fucked Up were playing at 2 in the morning but got bored and went and got some burritos. Last year you asked fans to design a t-shirt for you. Any plans for more art contests and such? Probably, we're still getting used to the idea of having other people do artwork for us, but if we like something we're always up for using it. Where can people find your album? Treehouse, Roadrunner, Cheapo, Electric Fetus, and Eclipse for sure. You could also download it on any number of torrent sites.

“This country is so huge and bizarre, it’s indescribable”

Nick Wosika

“My camera has allowed me to see some pretty amazing things.”

Charlie Hussman, wallplant. Midwest Skatepark

How did you get into photography? What draws you to it? Photography is something I’ve always wanted to do but growing up we didn’t really have the money for it. So when I got to that point in my life when I started making some decent money a camera was my first purchase. The adventure of getting the shot is what draws me to it. My camera has allowed me to see some pretty amazing things. Do you have formal training or are you self taught? I attended Hennepin Technical College for one year shortly after I bought my first camera. They had two tracks you could follow. Shoot weddings and portraits or go to the commercial side of things and shoot beer bottles and such. Both bore the living piss out of me. I wanted to be a photojournalist and shoot sports and rock shows. I asked the photo guys at HTC if they could design a curriculum for what I wanted to do. I told them were a lot of people out there just like me who didn’t want to shoot weddings. They weren’t having it so I dipped. They next day I e-mailed every newspaper I could looking for a part-time job. I got one call back. It was from the Faribault Daily News. The photo editor said bring down some samples. I brought down like 10 photos in a manila envelope. So bush league but the guy hired me. He gave me a bag of gear and said go shoot this volleyball game. I look in the bag and there was a Nikon D1X. I had never used a digital camera before let alone a D1X. Those things were like five g at the time. I looked back up at him and said, “You got a manual for this thing?”. He laughed. Handed me the manual and I left. I had just become a professional photographer.

Andy Eline, tree jam to fakie. Spirit Mountain

Alan Gerlach, front board. Wirth Park

Ian Wheat, 5-0. Cannon Falls

Kevin Gard, hardflip. Lakeville

John Armendariz, kickflip. Mankato

What was your first camera that you bought before the D1X from the Daily News? I had a canon rebel. A 2000 I believe. I bought a slow telephoto lens and a real nice 50mm. Do you prefer black and white or color? It depends on the subject. When I shoot bands I love black and white. For skating and such definitely color. Where has photography taken you? Any plans to travel? I have been on the bench for Wild games. In the dugout for Twins games. I have gotten to meet and see a lot of really cool people in and around the Minneapolis music scene. As far as travel goes I may have an opportunity to go on the Dew Tour this winter. I probably just jinxed that though. I'm down for whatever as long as it's fun. Last time you said "Damn, I wish I had my camera right now." I pretty much always have a camera on me. Either the crappy snappy or the money maker. If I have a moment it's usually a conversation with myself like, "Nick, you idiot, why didn't you shoot that?" Advice for younger photographers just starting out? Keep shooting. You are gonna fail and that's a good thing. You will learn from your mistakes or discover a new method and your photos will get better everytime you shoot. That and don't skimp on gear. Save for the good stuff. If you by crap you'll just spend more money in the end. How many years have you been taking pictures? I’ve been failing constantly for seven years.

Matthew Stanek, Buck Hill

Favorite subjects to shoot? Music, skateboarding, and people I love.

Do you prefer film or digital, or both? My life is based on two things, instant gratification and karma. Digital for sure. To you, what is the hardest part about photography? Keeping enough charged batteries with you. Do you have a favorite photo of your own? Of someone else's? I have a few favorites. My dog Fender and my ’66 Fender Bassman. Marion Gaboriks goal celebration. Chris Robinson of the Black Crowes at the Fine Line. A studio shot of Nate Paulson who skates for me at Renegade. And any picture I have ever taken of my niece Jessica or my wife Anna. Any photographers you admire? I am not all that into famous photographers and such. I can probably name five and three of them are skate photographers. Which do you like better, skate or snowboard photography? Skating for sure. Cold weather wreaks havoc on your gear and metering in the snow is a pain. Plus it’s cold. Plus in snowboarding the riders usually have their faces covered. I like to see the emotion in the face and what the eyes are doing. How or where can people see your work? Hopefully on the cover of this issue. (laughs) My website www.letter3photography.com The Renegade website www.renegadeboardshop.com I have photos all over myspace of various Minneapolis based bands and countless skateboarders. I am trying to put a show together this summer. That’s about it. Nate Paulson, rock to fakie. The Barn

Nate Reimnitz, back heel. Burnsville

Popcorn, polejam. Bridge Spot

Tyler Benson, backside nosegrind. Lakeville

Timmy Johnson, ollie. Farmington

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Daughters Of The Sun @ Heliotrope Fest - May 16th, 2008

Sarah Johnson @ the Turf Club, St. Paul, MN - January 19th, 2008

Ettrick @ Medusa - April 24th, 2008

Everybell & Whistle @ the Turf Club - June 5th, 2008

Knife World @ the Organ Haus - January 11th, 2008

Malachi Constant @ the Turf Club - May 31st, 2008

Ghostface Cow @ Stasiu's, Minneapolis, MN - May 9th, 2008

Weather Is Happening @ the Turf Club - June 5th, 2008

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Opposite: Mike White nollie flips off a junior high school stage in Barstow, California Here: Nick P. grinds off a homemade polejam in NorthEast Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Opposite: Caveman ollies off the wheelchair ramp to 5-0 on the rail at a schoolyard in Barstow, California Here: Nelson anguishes with a swollen member after landing on his head trying to skate the same rail that caveman ollied to 5-0 in Barstow, California

Here: Nick Riley kickflips over the rail and down a double set on a busy street in Iowa City, Iowa. Opposite: Caveman backside 180's over a fence at the end of a set of stairs in Barstow, California

T.J. T.J. Schneider Schneider

Is it difficult to find time for all of your artistic endeavors while maintaining a pro snowboarding career? Not really. The way that I snowboard keeps me busy but I make time for everything else. I really try to balance my life out, too much of one thing will make me go crazy. How would your life be different if you hadn't become a professional snowboarder? I wouldn’t have many of the things I have now, I’d probably be some lost person searching for something to do. What influences your artwork? Everything, mostly just my feelings in my head. Do you ever worry about breaking your drawing hand again, and do you take any extra precautions with it? No, if it happens it happens. When I did break it I just did a ton of left handed stuff. My drawings for the most part are pretty shitty. For me the text is the most important part, and most the time I can’t read it anyway.

Do you prefer film or digital photography? Film. I have no idea how to work a digital camera. Everything on my site is either 35 mm or 120 film. Have you ever considered snowboard photography? Sorta but not really. I think I could take some photos but I really just like shooting things that catch my attention. What prompted you to start the Snowboard Realm series? You've already gone past issue 30, any plans on slowing down? Umm just wanting to give something back, show kids what it’s like, share my season with them shred and have fun. Not film for some lame ass company that was going to charge my sponsors thousands of dollars to tell me my art "snowboarding" wasn’t good enough to be in the film. I don’t really plan on slowing down, I’m just going to keep doing what I’m doing and do it until it isn’t fun anymore, then do something else. Do you consider snowboarding an art form or a sport? What do you think the majority of other riders consider it? I think I just answered that. For me it’s just self expression or something like that... I dunno, it is art but not like a painting or music to me. I think if I thought of it as a sport I would try too hard and get caught up in being the best. I just snowboard to snowboard how I want to, not how others want me to. I have no idea how other people view it, I’ll ask some guys tomorrow for the Realms episode 34. You have ridden for Capita for many years, what makes them stand out from other companies? For me it’s just more of a family. I know a lot of people say that but people at Capita are my best friends. If I have a problem I call them, if something goes well I call them. We talk about Capita, we talk about life. For me Capita is so much more than just a sponsor. What do you see in the future of snowboarding as far as trends, popularity, etc.? I think a lot of people will do their version of the Realms, they will just put way more into it, have other people make and film them, edit it on Final Cut and time it to the music. Which doesn’t really bother me, since I don’t have any of that, ha... I hope that snowboarding just becomes more friendly.

Joe Zimmerman, Indy. Montana Photo: Todd Morgan