MONDAY: Clementine Record Release Show
As of 2011, Clementine, a home-grown post-rock band, has been playing shows all over Minneapolis and St. Paul. The band is composed of four members including Christopher Connors, Pete Krausert, Aaron McGuire, and Philip Christensen. They will be releasing their latest record, Crooked Brain in the Entry Monday night. Be sure to check out, “Float” one of their featured songs from the album. Also performing that night will be special guests: Dan Mariska and the Boys Choir and Chalk. Mariska is a local singer/songwriter who boasts a rare emo streak: The guy is a dead ringer for Death Cab for Cutie frontman Ben Gibbard. He’s not all weeps and whines, though. Like many reared on Get Up Kids and Dashboard Confessionals in the early ’00s, Mariska — who also fronts local band the King and the Thief — is of the indie-folk bent nowadays. Chalk is a four-piece band residing right here in Minneapolis, MN, consisting of Michael Voller (Vocals/Guitar), Anthony Casey (Guitar), Jake Schemm (Bass), and Forrest Fritz-Storhaug (Drums).
WEDNESDAY: Matthew E. White
On Dec. 24, 2013, Matthew E. White could not fall asleep in his childhood bedroom. The Richmond singer, bandleader and modern soul visionary had returned to his parents’ home in Virginia Beach for the holidays. During the previous 18 months, he’d toured Europe and America extensively, played Primavera and Glastonbury, performed at The Hollywood Bowl and the Sydney Opera House, and even staged a live rendition of his surprise-hit debut, Big Inner, with a band of 30 members. Big Inner earned five stars in The Guardian and a spot on its year-end list, plus those of Pitchfork, eMusic and Consequence of Sound. White’s latest album, Fresh Blood, is a bracing, beguiling record and a bold advance for White. Opener “Take Care My Baby” is his step-into-the-light moment, a sophisticated but instantly winning soul number where love becomes a panacea for woe. That enthusiasm crosses over for “Fruit Trees,” a smiling, seductive number where White—his voice traced and teased by horns, strings and harmonies—begs for a paramour to “let me sleep in your tent tonight.”
Special guest Wilsen will be opening up the night with her bandmates Johnny Simon Jr and Drew Arndt. Wilsen is the creation of 24-year-old London native Tamsin Wilson. Forged in the burgeoning creative quarters of Brooklyn, Wilsen’s fragile, seductive sound sits at odds with the transient cultural moods of her adopted neighborhood, instead sharing a closer creative affinity with the timeless sonic textures of European dream pop.
Sounds Like: Tobias Jesso Jr, Father John Misty, John Grant, Natalie Prass
THURSDAY: Ishi | Rose Quartz
Ishi was born as an experiment between friends. JT Mudd & Brad Dale set out to create a sound that would help redefine the pop sensibility of modern day music. Their vision was to blend the classic, soulful story-telling and organic instrumentation of traditional folk music, with the infinite sonic possibilities offered through electronic production. Experimentation quickly evolved into a journey of sound that would ultimately lead to the songs that comprised of Ishi’s debut record, Through the Trees, released May of 2010. They have appeared at major festivals such as SXSW, Meltdown Music Festival, Wicker Park Festival, and Halfway to Forecastle; and they continue to share the stage with some of the most widely known and respected Indie and Dance acts on the touring circuit including: New Order, Of Montreal, SBTRKT, Phoenix, Chromeo, Passion Pit, Pretty Lights, Big Boi, Bright Light Social Hour, Boombox, and Twin Shadow. Ishi is currently in the heart of their Spring 2015 tour as they travel across the central United States until early April.
Touring with Ishi is four-piece electro-pop band, Rose Quartz. Ending with a sold-out headlining show at Denver’s Larimer Lounge on New Year’s Eve at, it’s pretty safe to say that 2014 was a hell of a year for Rose Quartz. The newly-formed Denver group was fortunate to spent the year sharing stages with the likes of Future Islands, Cut Copy, MS MR, St. Lucia, !!! (Chk Chk Chk) and STRFKR, and have recently morphed from a vocal/production duo to a full 4-piece live outfit. Also performing in the 7th St Entry that night will be the act of local electronic power trio, Dichotomy. Dichotomy combines the sounds of heavy beats, electronic violin, guitars, and synthesizers to create a sound that is heavy and soulful, yet other-worldly and electronic. Dichotomy released their sophomore album, Subterranean, on May 31, 2014.
Sounds Like: Empire of the Sun, New Order
FRIDAY: Aero Flynn Release Show
It all began in 2002 in a student-rented house of Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Ask any of the members, this band has surely had its struggles. But over a decade later, Aero Flynn is still playing shows all around the United States, Canada, and even the U.K. Their latest album, Aero Flynn will be released Friday night in the 7th St Entry featuring the band’s latest achievements. Friday night will also include the acts of special guests Carroll and Matt Latterell. Minneapolis’ Carroll (two R’s, two L’s) was born in late 2011 when frontman Brian Hurlow started composing melancholic pop songs that caught the ear of college classmate and drummer Charlie Rudoy. The lifelong musicians clicked and moved in together to a house on Carroll Avenue, coining the psychedelic, shoegazey-pop band’s name. After guitarist Max Kulicke and bassist Charles McClung came on board for the live show, Carroll started turning heads. Matt Latterell is a singer/songwriter based out of Northeast Minneapolis. Known for its small-town vibe and strong artistic culture, the neighborhood has become the perfect home to Latterell, who began writing songs in the small town of Foley, MN more than 15 years ago.
SATURDAY: Dopapod
The Boston born, now generally Northeast based, but ever on-the-go Dopapod has come a long way from their college basement, DIY party roots. While maintaining to be as grassroots as their humble beginnings, the group has earned praise from taste making critics like The Huffington Post, Jambase, Relix, and The Boston Herald, all the while tending to their ever expanding community of devoted listeners. The past 4 years have individually held the weight of about 150 shows and included numerous festival appearances like Wakarusa, Summer Camp, Electric Forest, Camp Bisco, Peach Fest, & Gathering Of the Vibes. All of this time on stage together has given the band the opportunity to explore the wide variety of influences that has impacted them to be the players they are today. But, don’t be quick to think that the no holds barred openness to experimentation is unguided. While the brush in their hand uses every color, it’s the stroke on the canvas that gives Dopapod a distinct voice in the way of crafty songwriting.
Opening the night for Dopapod will be local band, Circle of Heat. With all four members having the distinction of being graduates of the University of Minnesota School of Music, Circle of Heat doesn’t mess around. That doesn’t mean they are pretentious by any means. On the contrary; they create a fusion of prog rock beat and jazz-style rock improvisation with a blues backbone and clean vocal harmonies. You never know what you’re going to get, except for musicians playing at the top of their game.
Sounds Like: Papa Grows Funk, Papadosio, The Floozies
SUNDAY: Quantic
Quantic is an umbrella name for UK-born, Will Holland: acclaimed Producer, Musician and DJ for over 15 years evolving and involving styles like Funk & Jazz to Electronic & Folk music through to Latin, Reggae, Dub & Cumbia. Now, with over 18 studio albums and countless singles, he’s hitting the road to spin his unique sound of tropical-soul and sub-bass laden polyrhythm. Spinning a mix of original material, personally cut on dub plates by Holland himself, and a choice selection of tunes culled from a lifetime of crate digging, he’s been filling up dance floors in 18 cities across North America from March 11 on his latest tour. “He’s at the forefront of a new global sound.” as stated by Gilles Peterson of BBC Radio 1. Holland has released over ten full-length albums internationally through the label, Tru Thoughts, … across six different projects ranging from his DJ/Producer/Remixer moniker that has packed dance floors from Bulgaria to Buenos Aires, Quantic, to his Latin-tinged, reggae and dub exploration, Flowering Inferno, to a full-out soul band, The Quantic Soul Orchestra. Based in the musical epicenter of Cali, Colombia since 2007, Holland has been exploring cumbias, salsa and Afro-Colombian music through his particular beat-focused, electronic and funk lens. His latest live band project, Quantic y Su Combo Barbaro, a carefully assembled international cast of musical creators including virtuosic salsa pianist Alfredo Linares and Pacific folklore singer Nidia Gongora, is a bold snapshot of an ever-evolving musical landscape in the Americas. Holland also works and exchanges with a cross-section of artists and producers innovatively shaping contemporary music from Latin America as we speak.
Sounds Like: Nostalgia 77, Mr. Scruff, Nightmares On Wax, Alice Russell
Blog by Kevin Clancy
