Sometimes, packaging doesn’t lie and the fact that Grayshot’s latest EP, Waiting Days, comes in a startlingly white case embossed with Ikea-approved designs is not insignificant. You see, this Minneapolis duo makes the aural equivalent of their cover: bland, inoffensive, evocative of something good, yet ultimately unsatisfying.The problem is that Grayshot don’t really have an identity. Waiting Days sounds like the kind of “sweeping,” “operatic” pop music that has found a mainstream foothold in the …

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Marlah is what happens when suburban kids lose their girlfriends and pick up guitars to fill the void in their broken and empty hearts. Marlah is a band living in a suburban Twin Cities vacuum, and These Curses is a very accurate depiction of suburban naiveté. Curses spans the same range thematically as singer Ben Holum’s vocals. By the 12th minute the album becomes un-listenable because by this time Holum has …

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The Minneapolis music scene doesn’t garner international attention (or national for that matter) on too many occasions. Prince, the Rhymesayers crew and some notable artists flying under the radar are basically the extent of the Cities’ musical notoriety. Now, however, we have Motion City Soundtrack – the powerpop quintet repping our hometown to the fullest.On September 18, the group released Even If It Kills Me, their 13-track third studio album. I am …

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Something has been keeping me awake for days. Insomnia? Methamphetamines? No. It is The Go! Team’s new album, Proof of Youth. Like their past album, the newest release is chocked full of what I like to call “Go!-ness” Imagine a high school marching band combined with rapping, cheering, and breakneck electronica, and you have something close to The Go! Team’s style. Proof of Youth is like pure energy. …

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The best part of October 2nd’s Deerhoof concert at the Walker Art Center (held in the McGuire Theater) was the audience’s first reaction to Deerhoof’s opening song: laughter. Singer Satomi Matsuzaki came out bowing, bass in hand, while John Dieterich laid down screeching guitar brickwork for the band’s opening song. Drummer Greg Saunier propelled the song into one of its many stop and go sections, while Matsuzaki led into a chorus of “Beep …

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Canadian indie-rock outfit Arcade Fire has only been around since ‘03, but their live show has become the stuff of legends. Their September 30th show with LCD Soundsystem at St. Paul’s Roy Wilkins Auditorium showed the Twin Cities what all the fuss is about. Dance-rock group LCD Soundsystem opened with a solid, energizing set. Their catchy sound, characterized by pulsing beats and repetitive lyrics, pulled the crowd in and got everyone moving. Songs like “Yeah” …

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I firmly believe that MTV officially killed God when they green-lit their new “reality” TV program A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila. For those unaware, allow me to synopsize this train wreck: 16 straight men and 16 lesbian women are all trying to find true love with bisexual model and fourth-tier celebrity, Tila Tequila. I wish that this show was one of a kind, but unfortunately it is just one of many …

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Minneapolis is known for contributing a diverse selection of bands to popular music. Among the many folk and rock artists that constitute the area’s music scene exists a band defying the conventions of yet another genre. Progressive jazz trio The Bad Plus have instated themselves as one of the most forward thinking groups in experimental music. The Bad Plus push the boundaries of musical form by taking uninhibited jazz improvisation and wrapping it …

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It wasn’t even my idea to go to the Renaissance Festival this year. I’d been once before, about seven years ago, and although the turkey legs were good they didn’t seem to warrant an annual pilgrimage to Shakopee. Boyfriend felt differently, or at least said he did after he and my 16-year-old sister began plotting our journey to the western suburbs, complete with costumes. I knew that I would prefer to spend …

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Rumbling tracks from the approaching train, roaring exhaust from the passing bus, warning screams from the police siren – all call Southeast Minneapolis home.The bells don’t ring out from Turtle Community School any longer. Home for-sale signs seem to be the latest lawn ornament. Discarded red plastic party cups blow through the allies.The Como neighborhood acts as the sponge for University of Minnesota students who want to live close to campus but not exactly on …

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Thai Rocky Spring on 13th and 5th has all the makings of a good “ethnic” restaurant; the exterior is broke-ass, it’s in an area that boasts diverse tastes in food, and its patrons appeared to be of the same general lineage as the menu’s offerings (which is usually a good barometer of authenticity).With that in mind, I wish I could say that the cuisine and dining experience match the façade.Thai restaurants can typically be judged …

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For a student who is currently a junior or senior here at the U, there are plenty of reasons to be ambivalent about the new football stadium, which is in its early stages of construction on the East Bank campus. The stadium is not scheduled to open until the 2009 season, and by then it is likely that I (and probably many of you) will be long gone. To move a few steps beyond ambivalence, …

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On the east side of downtown Minneapolis, a large black insect crawled during Saturday dusk. With cockroach and crab-like features, the mammoth pest paced with the sluggish rate of a tortoise. Perhaps it had had better days. “Damn, what the fuck is that?” asked a confused twenty-something football fan.“I don’t even know,” said a drunken college student on his way to the Gate C entrance of the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome.“It’s a water-beetle!” said a …

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Cinema buffs rejoice! For you have a safe haven, a sanctuary, a place to call your own, and you might not of even known it. But you better get there soon, because it might not be around too much longer.The Oak Street Cinema prides itself in showing classic, repertory, independent and foreign films. They also are a venue for the annual Minneapolis-St. Paul International Film Festival held every spring. However, suffering from financial troubles and …

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Adem Rudin is an okay-looking dude. His beard is trimmed, his hair under control. This is a fairly new development. When Rudin came to the U as a freshman he was overgrown and frightening, an intimidating beast of a man overflowing with hair in all directions. He struck onlookers as a man destined either for greatness or for a street corner with a hand-made sign. Rudin made the first step towards his destiny when he …

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