The Wake

Jean Grae spits rhymes, kicks ass (literally) and hates infatuated groupies. In short, she’s cool as hell. A writer, rapper and risk-taker, she’s a picture of poetic prowess.
As independent as she is skilled on the mic, the emcee from Brooklyn, N.Y., has exploded on the underground hip-hop scene in the past few years. Born in South Africa to two jazz musicians, she’s already established herself as one of the best rappers in the game. Smart, socially concious and tremendously talented, the prodigious Grae made a name for herself writing the kind of rhymes that make Lil’ John look like Lil’ Talent. And with Lauryn Hill nowhere to be found, this year may be the big one for Grae. With a new album, „This Week,“ produced by Midi Mafia (50 Cent) and …

Read more →

As you’re walking across campus take a look around you. Among the multi-million dollar buildings sustained by poor college students, you’re bound to find one or two lined along the sidewalks or clustered on the mall. And while many of you are thinking of those bushy-tailed rodents, I’m referring to something a bit more unnoticeable.Trees make up only a small part of the University of Minnesota campus and yet they add so much to the university atmosphere. Their beauty stands through the seasons and they have seen students come and go for decades. But some trees are meeting an early demise due to an incurable disease known as Dutch Elm. University land care officials says this year has been one of the worst – 30 elm trees were cut down because of the disease and …

Read more →

The members of Aerosmith are still alive. But apparently, the leather-faced Quinquagenarians have happened upon hard times. Steven Tyler is narrating a walking cell phone tour of Boston (WALK THIS WAYYYYY . . . to the Boston Harbor!) while Joe Perry is passing his time promoting his line of BBQ sauce on the Emeril Live! cooking show. I don’t know about you, but I’m glad - hopefully this will keep them busy enough to stay away from the Super Bowl this year.In other news . . . Ashlee Simpson is like, so totally awesome! Don’t be fooled; she’s punk to her “I’m so punk” T-shirt core. Remember: she’s no pop singer, she’s an artist. And she’s SOOOOO cute with Ryan “highlights” Cabrera! If anyone missed Howie Day – the walking sexual harassment suit himself – …

Read more →

I hate to break it to you, but the freedom of summer has officially ended. Along with the end of freedom comes the end of warm weather.Don’t despair. There is hope. You can do something to soak up the last month or so of lukewarm weather.People watch.If you’ve never tried it, I encourage it. People watching not only passes the time, but also strikes the imagination and gives you the opportunity to really notice your surroundings. Not to mention, it is one of the easiest and laziest ways to socialize.I went in search of the three best places to people watch when the weather is warm. I was thrilled to find the amusement that awaited me in several different places.The number one place to people watch are county and state fairs. The Minnesota State Fair …

Read more →

Parking ramps really aren’t very photogenic. They don’t like posing for pictures. Yet, they managed to make an exception for Matt McCauley, a gradate student at the University of Minnesota. McCauley’s photography show entitled “Ramps,” now at Coffman Art Gallery, is a concept show focusing on the utilitarian beauty of these car-carrying buildings. The show, running through September, features a part of the urban landscape we witness almost everyday and that is considered – well, rather ugly. It was a brave move to make something most people try to ignore the focus of a photography show. Graffiti, grime, cement and florescent lighting don’t seem like prime photographic material, but McCauley’s talent elevates these modern eyesores to a level of genuine artistic appreciation. Each picture works to pull the onlooker into the damp chill of the …

Read more →

I attended “The Mean Sisters Variety Show” at the Bryant Lake Bowl Theatre with no premeditations or preconceived notions whatsoever. I received an e-mail, acted on impulse and on August 26 went with my proverbial balls to the wall and left completely and hilariously satisfied. The Mean Sisters, individually known as Sadie Bowman, Rita Boersma and Laura Reese are all alumni of the University of Minnesota. In 2002, Reese, with the help of Bowman, created this theatrical madness at the Fringe Festival, in a project called “Mean Sisters; the Puberty Project.” Last winter, Reese and Bowman wrote a play about the real social mishaps they both had humorously endured and titled it ‘Tales of the Socially Inept,’ which they performed for the first time last April. Boersma then jumped on board adding to the comedy …

Read more →

Like most postmodern “The” bands, The Libertines retrospectively rehash a previous musical movement. The London band’s Clash-esque melodies are clever and purposeful on their self-titled second album. But it is no wonder, The Libertines were taken under the wing of Mick Jones, the guitarist and songwriter for The Clash (not to be confused with the Mick Jones of Foreigner). This sophomore effort is a mixed-medium album with splashes of Far East influence (The Ha Ha Wall), 1950s pop (Narcissist and What Katie Did) and Doors-inspired excess (Road To Ruin). Despite this genre-jumping, the album stays at the same tempo for the most part. This gives it continuity, but also predictability. Though the record hints at unruliness and insight, a lull overtakes the beginning of the album. It sounds like The Libertines rehearsed too much in …

Read more →

Offender, brother, inmate, lover, convict, scholar, prisoner, father, murderer, college graduate, drug dealer, painter, gang member, husband . . . Check a box, many boxes. Frame them, name them, ignore them, try to train them. Soon it is clear - these men can’t be held down. They are the Stillwater Poetry Group (SPG), word warriors who meet Tuesday nights inside prison walls. Lit 3 quickly fills with men of varying ages, races, ethnicities, religions, gang affiliations, ideologies, and cell blocks; differences weigh heavily; you can feel it in the air. Still, they run inside, jump into seats, pencils in hand… every teacher’s dream. For many these moments are like Thanksgiving.“This is a feast where we all get fed,” says Carl Wesley, visual artist, SPG poet, and author of many haikus about …

Read more →

I never thought that I would find myself eating lunch in a parked car along University Avenue by choice. But then again, I had never really thought about eating at Porky’s.The 50s-style drive-in restaurant located at the intersection of University and Fairview avenues features a common theme: grease. This does not pertain only to the items on the menu. The place is an automotive apex straight outta’ “Happy Days”; a haven for grease monkeys and malt-guzzlers alike.Oddly however, my comrade-in-cuisine (my roommate) and I soon discovered that we could not order our food from the phones next to the parking spots. This left us slightly disappointed. Regardless, we entered the restaurant. Upon stepping through the door, we discovered a wall covered in pictures of classic cars and also (somewhat surprisingly) numerous awards for excellence …

Read more →

Grunge died ten years ago. Which is why Death Cab for Cutie, current Seattlelite sensations, sound nothing like it. Though the band – Ben Gibbard, guitar and vocals; Chris Walla, guitar; Nick Harmer, bass; and Michael Schoor –hails from the slate-gray birthplace of bleach and bi-polar frontmen, they’ve taken a decidedly different approach to music from their clinically-depressed cousins. Making a stripped-down Pet Sounds on anti-depressants sound good, Death Cab’s music has sutured the broken hearts of overwhelmed emotional teenagers everywhere; kids who just can’t seem to stop wearing their hearts on their sleeves. Recently, with the release of their latest record, Transatlanticism, the band has swung into overdrive, launching a national tour de Death Cab. The band will also be playing alongside fellow Washingtonians Pearl Jam in moveon.org’s Vote for Change tour. …

Read more →

Over the past few months, some excellent B-movie schlock has come to my attention. I feel the need to point out to the readers the very best. So I will give you the rundown on some of the best films from well below the mainstream radar. Hardcore Poisoned Eyes is a masterful work of suspense and terror. This Sal Ciavarello-directed film deals with the story of three young women who go to the country to get blitzed. However, they stumble upon a great menace, finding themselves the unwitting targets of a violent satanic cult. The story builds up to a great level of suspense and is actually quite frightening. Also, a huge positive is the fact that this film succeeds without buckets of blood or pointless sex. Lucky tells the demented tale of an alcoholic …

Read more →

Tip for theater goers: avoid seeing a traveling musical during the middle of the week, especially at the end of the show’s run. What you’ll get are a few effortless actors disrespecting their characters, themselves and the audience.With that said, I wish I wasn’t referring to Jonathan Larson’s theatrical masterpiece “Rent,” which is an ultra-important story of friendship, suffering, life and death that will never lose its symbolic importance for American society – except when it is not taken seriously by those actors involved in its performance.In its sixth presentation at the Ordway Center in St. Paul, the show, which ended April 18, is now Broadway’s tenth longest running show to date. And because of that popularity and its massive following, one would think that being apart of this musical’s cast would be an unimaginable …

Read more →

Josh Hartnett must be one of the luckiest bastards in Minnesota.Not only did he score tickets to The Strokes’ sold out show at First Avenue on April 25, he managed to weasel his way in the VIP Lounge by virtue of his star power alone (I saw him do it with my own eyes).The rest of the 1400 audience members weren’t so fortunate. They had to suffer heady pulse-pounding sets from both The Raveonettes and The Strokes from the floor. Oh cruel fate. I didn’t hear much complaining from them, however.The opening act, The Raveonettes, touring all the way from Denmark, entranced the crowd with their spacey, edgy brand of rock. I mean that literally, too. Never have so many people been so still at one time. The crowd of gently bobbing heads and …

Read more →

“Is the concert that boring?” some trashed twenty-something girl asks me. She keeps stealing drags off my cigarette – and it’s starting to piss me off. “No,” I tell her. “But I am getting paid to be here. I’m not a huge fan.”“Oh,” she says, ashing the Camel-filtered over the crowd below.She’s one of many who are hanging-cool upstairs in The Quest’s upscale balcony. From the looks of it, she’s having quite the time. But for the rest of the audience, the real action is taking place two flights of stairs below in the main-room.“Are we having a good fucking time!?” the Ashton Kutcher look-alike on-stage screams to the audience. “Outside, it’s Minneapolis, but in here it’s bright, sunny California.” The hordes of high-school students erupt in cheers – they’re on a Hollister Holiday, and …

Read more →

Electric Fetus
Stats:
* Lots of amenities: incense, candles, tobacco pipes, posters, clothing, jewelry
* Band DVDs
* Vinyl (sparse)
* Used CDs
* Local music
* HUGE selection
* Import CDs
* Decent prices
* Cassettes
* Concert ticketsThe Electric Fetus could be equated to your grandma’s attic; that is, if your grandma was a total music nut. The colossal amount of music and stuff packed into the general store-like space makes the Electric Fetus feel homey. Good background music, fun publicity displays, bright lighting and polished hardwood floors lend to a pleasant shopping experience. Fetus also has an excellent jazz selection; hell, they have an excellent selection in Electronic, Blues, Country, Pop, Rock, African and Latin. The large selection is also reflected in the variety of patrons. Price-wise, the Fetus …

Read more →