The Wake

The Perceptionists may be one of the best hip-hop supergroups ever. They’re a collective of uniquely and supremely gifted hip-hop heads and intellects. The group – DJ Fakts 1, Akrobatik, and Mr. Lif – are among the best Def Jux has to offer. On their own, they’ve all had more than successful indie careers. As a group, they’ve elevated their respective styles into one conscious stream of pure heavenly hip-hop. They’re a Boston-born beat-breaking lyric-shaking machine that cannot be stopped. They’re currently touring around the country in a van, picking up new devotees as they go. Recently, Ak and Fakts were kind enough to talk to us about a whole lot. Read on. Love it. And go pick up the album while you’re at it.The Wake: What’s up?Fakts 1: Hey what’s up man? The Wake: …

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Under the illuminated trees of stage theatrical lighting the mythical Pixies emerged from a cloud of smoke to play the music of fabulous rock ’n’ roll muses. The Pixies are themselves muses, inspiring ‘90s rock as they inspired the crowd at Roy Wilkins to lift their voices and arms to the glory that is their psychotically melodic indie rock. The band’s breakup in the early ‘90s left a fracture in modern music. But testaments to their influence have been felt in the gushing remarks of Kurt Cobain, all the way to the success of bands like Pavement and Weezer’s. These bands understood the magnetism of the Pixies’ guitar distortions and of their d surrealist-on-acid lyrics. Likewise, the Minneapolis crowd also understood the Pixies’ magnetism as they resurfaced from the breakup chasm to bring generations of …

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A tragedy has befallen the Minnesota metal scene. This winter Root Cellar Records will close. Root Cellar specializes in vinyl of all genres and heavy metal CDs. Thanks to the likes of Best Buy being able to undercut the prices of the little guy, and to the ease of stealing… oops, I mean downloading music, after several years the business ceased to be viable. But I do not wish to simply bemoan the loss of a great record store (and my job), but to make this a wake-up call.I urge anyone reading this to realize that when you buy from an independent record store you are not only buying a compact disc. You are contributing to a community of music lovers! Heavy metal fans, do take advantage of Root Cellar while you can, it will …

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Dance is such a basic human experience. We dance when music, alcohol or solitude help us overcome our inhibitions. But for all the visceral appeal of movement, the idea of watching people who are skilled at dance perform their work sometimes seems like one of those high-brow cultural experiences that are more likely to inspire yawning than awareness of the animal self. Maybe the rigid movements and predictability of classical ballet have given dance a bad name. Or, conversely, the density and oddity of modern dance just weird people out. In any case, too few people feel comfortable in a roomful of leotards and bare feet. Luckily, there’s an event coming up where we can all relax and take dance for the joyful expression is should be. Each year, the University of Minnesota dance …

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Can you have your cupcake and eat it too? This is not a philosophical question.I’m talking about pastry, dammit. And not just any pastry. A childhood favorite; a sinful treasure latching on to your taste buds; an avalanche of sugary goodness down your throat; a one-way, frosting-coated ticket to Perfectionville. Population: you and the cupcake. OK now, don’t freak out. I know I’ve just put your sugar-radar on red alert. “Where are these cupcakes?” is looping through your brain like Fat Boy Slim demanding answers. But luckily for you, I’m a gastronomical guru with the one-word, secret wisdom that will solve all your problems: cupcake.Frustrating isn’t it? You feel like I’ve just told you nothing, but in all honesty – that’s all you need to know. Cupcake is a new coffee shop less …

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“Concert” might be too strong a word. The Collective Soul event on Wednesday, Nov. 10 was more like a commercial cross-promotion convention. Collective Soul’s one-hour set at the Mall of America was intended to help promote their new album Youth, but instead came off as defiantly entrepreneurial.The post-grunge group, known for having the most number-one rock singles in the 1990s, played mostly old favorites that spanned the band’s entire backlog, from the crush-gush juiced out rock of “Gel” to the starry balladry of “The World I Know.” Hopefully, those in attendance expected such nostalgia. Because the only song the nineties hit-makers played from their decidedly underwhelming new album was the radio-friendly single, “Counting the Days.” Apparently this is the exception to the rule however, with Ed Rollins, lead singer and front man, declaring on stage …

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After The Shut-Ins played at the Dinkytowner Café’s In the Garage, a very well attended, all-ages show on Sunday, October 10, 2004, I really wanted to find out more about them.
Martha Weir and Neil Weir met with me and the following transpired Q. How long have you been playing together?
Martha: We started off about a year and a half ago, just sort of messing around and seeing what might come out of it. I was playing drums at that point and Neil guitar. After a couple of months, I got a bass and we started playing with the Rhythm Master and it just sort of stuck. At first we played with it out of necessity, then it just turned into part of our sound. I guess we probably started putting …

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Romano Scavolini directed one of horror’s greatest and most disturbing films: Nightmare. I recently spoke with Mr. Scavolini, and gained some insight on the film.The Wake: First, I would love to say that “Nightmares in a Damaged Brain” is a favorite film of mine, one of few films capable of actually being frightening and disturbing. My first question is what motivated to write and direct a film such as “Nightmare?”
Romano: I didn’t really think in terms of writing and directing a horror movie . . . the plot came from an article I read in the paper regarding some type of new drug that the C.I.A. gave to some inmates and mental patients in order to study changes in human behavior, without disclosing to them the risk of taking that kind of drug. From …

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Lamb of God, from Richmond, Virginia is tearing the metal world to shreds. They play extreme thrash with elements of death metal, hardcore, with a slight Pantera touch. They recently released their fifth full-length album (and first on Epic Records), Ashes of the Wake. It is quite simply a great thrash record that you need to hear. Recently I was able to discuss the record and the band with guitarist Willie Adler.Brant: Well, I would first like to congratulate you on your release “Ashes of the Wake,” it’s even better than “As the Palaces Burn.” It is possibly the best thrash album of the past three or four years.How would you tell a listener who heard “Palaces” and is skeptical that you could possibly have outdone it, that “Ashes” is worthwhile and indeed better. What …

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Ecopolitan, a completely organic, vegan and raw restaurant, boasts that a raw vegan diet will give people fewer colds and allergies, more energy, slimmer bodies, sharper minds, clearer skin, and will decrease the risk of heart disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes, arthritis, osteoporosis, gallstones, infections and premature death. Which is weird, because most people equate raw with wretchedness. Ecopolitan is trying to change this.Their entire menu is 100% raw and vegan. They don’t use animal products of any kind. And no cooking, period. Their produce is washed with purified water. All cleaning, laundry and dishwashing is done with non-toxic, earth-friendly materials. The building is caulked, glued, sealed and painted using non-toxic products, which they offer at discount prices, along with other natural, ecological, non-toxic home and body goods. Man, is that a mouthful. These guys …

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Wilco’s John Stirrat recently spoke with The Wake about the new album, ghosts, and sporting venues gone terribly wrong. The Wake: What’s up?John: Nothing much, just a little recuperation from the last leg of touring. The Wake: How is that?John: Oh, it’s goin’ great. Just fantastic. It was – y’know, couldn’t have asked for a better tour really. We did New York – Radio City [Music Hall] – for a few nights, so it was crazy. We’re lookin’ forward to getting back to Minneapolis after that kinda heinous show we did at the gallery [laughs]. Editor’s note: Wilco played a show in August 2003 at the Walker Art Center.The Wake: Are you playing a lot from the new album?John: Yeah, we’re doing maybe everything but one or two? I think. I think we’ve done …

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In an age when one can drive from New York to Los Angeles listening to the same corporate crap on the same Clear Channel radio stations in every single state, some have stood up in active resistance to the mass media monopolies. On Thursday, Oct. 28, travelers along University Avenue will be able to hear over fifty different independent broadcasts from micro-transmitters set up in locations ranging from the University of Minnesota to the State Capital. Radio Re-Volt, a Walker Art Center project which began over four months ago, will culminate with the broadcast event followed by a two-day conference on Friday and Saturday.Most corporate radios transmit signals at 100 kilowatts or more. The micro-radio transmitters utilized in this project are restricted to .001 watt, the legal limit established by the Federal Communication Commission for …

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The imagination is a playful entity that likes to frolic across the canvas, run past the camera lens, and tip-toe through clay. But it also likes to explore and mix media at its will so as to blur the lines between the myriad forms of traditional art. This is the case in “Interplay,” an excessively creative and modern-mixed media show, now showing at the Katherine E. Nash Gallery. The show highlights University of Minnesota alumni and their imaginations, which run amok through conventional mediums, resulting in something truly playful.The play between mediums and the imagination begins with the media itself. As one enters the gallery, three newspaper vending machines skirt the wall. Upon closer look, one finds Ruthann Godollei’s “Newsbox Project,” which depicts scathing socially conscious headlines such as “Chaos, ruined lives created in a …

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Interpol’s single Slow Hands, from the new album Antics, is already a friend to me the way a song that is really great always is. It isn’t an easy thing to write broken-heart lyrics and make them authentic. Vocalist Paul Banks manages to sound a bit menacing, in a gentle way, while in regret or in remembrance of this ache. The bite of the action is there in the sound and the words. Slow Hands has already been the soundtrack to a dream or two of mine, and I find myself humming it as I would an old favorite.
When I got my copy of Antics, it immediately went to number one on my first-thing-in-the-morning rotation. The songs are all really solid in a good way and explorative enough to make me wish there was …

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I recently got a chance to talk with Bill Lindsey about the upcoming greatest holiday of the year. (That’s Halloween for our readers who are a little slow.) Bill is the vocalist for the greatest band ever to come out of Minnesota, Impaler, a 365-day embodiment of Halloween, heavy metal, and punk rock. The Wake: Bill can you give us a run down on the best haunted house in town?
Bill: Well, in my opinion the Fright Farm is by far the best haunted attraction in the Twin Cities. They have the best sets and characters! Great atmosphere in the fright farm. No kids in a sheet and tennis shoes jumping out at you, that is the worst and it’s happened may times when I’ve paid like $5 or $7 to go in a …

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