Local Jams - Shoveldance and Cheeks Marx

I'm back in Minnesota for the holiday so it's only appropriate that I give a shout out to a couple of my favorite home town musicians.

First up is Shoveldance, a rock outfit that calls the Twin Cities home. Featuring Beau Jeffrey on bass, this band displays a 90s rock style with some funk and horns thrown in for good measure. However you describe it they sound damn good. Here are three tracks, my personal favorite Uber Shuck Dudder along with two tracks you can't get anywhere else:

Shoveldance by Stew C

Check out their website, myspace, and facebook and see em live at 331 Club in Minneapolis December 4th. There are three more tracks for your ears on the myspace page.

I wrote about Cheeks Marx (aka QBall Lives) a few months ago, and since then he's put out a full album, The Storage Capacity Mixtape, on itunes. Cheeks calls San Diego home now, and his sound has gotten even more fresh since the move. You can sample a ton of good jams below, and if you like what you hear pick up the mixtape.



If you're looking for more from Cheeks, here he is on myspace and reverbnation.

Happy holidays friends.

Stew

edward maya & vika jigulina

minus the bear

Oil + Water + Four Tet

Here's a cool version of Four Tet's song 'Circling.' Check it:

Delorean/Lemonade

Saw Delorean at Lincoln Hall last night (as did Cole who may do a post on the show), and it was pretty great. A band called Lemonade was the second opener (after an awful set by The Light Pollution), and I found this song today.

In joy.

GAYNGS - "Cry"

Cool song, cool vid.

New Girl Talk

Download Girl Talk's new album 'All Day' for free, right here: Girl Talk - All Day

In joy.

Benoit Pioulard

Some really great stuff to share this week. This is Benoit Pioulard (aka Thomas Meluch). He's a multi-instrumentalist that reminds me of a combination Owen Pallett and Jose Gonzalez. His recently released album 'Lasted' is a work of art. The following songs below are excellent, but the album really shines when enjoyed front to back. Definitely pick it up if you like what you hear.

Benoit Pioulard - Tack & Tower


Benoit Pioulard - Sault


Benoit Pioulard - Tie


In joy.

50 Cent

Just watch this video. Seriously.

Fela!

Afro-beat pioneer. Activist. Prolific fornicator. AIDS casualty. Special thanks to "Africa: Introductory Survey" for providing some much needed modern culture. Read more about this iconic musician here. You've got plenty of time while the African groove rolls along.

Russ Chimes - Midnight Club EP Trilogy

I've only gotten through part one of this because I'm in the Orlando airport and the internet is really slow, but after watching the first part I knew the rest was TSAD-worthy. Sweet beats, very well done videos. Happy Friday.





Buy the EP here.

Thanks Vail.

Pogo

Short post today. A while back this guy (or girl), Pogo, made a video remixing portions of Disney's Alice in Wonderland into a song (first video below). Well he just came out with his second video with Disney's Snow White. Very cool stuff.

Cloudy Busey

Had to post this song. So good.

In joy.

Cabin Fever '10

With uncanny foresight, I decided to title my latest mix 'Cabin Fever.' Little did I know I'd be holed up in a hotel for a week shortly afterward. That's why I decided to name the next mix I make 'Millionaire Island Babe Mix.' Yes, that should do.

Anyway, enjoy this treat for your ears - a little summer with some fall mixed in, and definitely excellent to work to. Download it for free here.

In joy.

Cloud Cult

Cloud Cult is an experimental indie rock band from Minneapolis, Minnesota. The group began in 1995 as the solo studio project of Craig Minowa. His first studio album sparked the interest of a number of small record labels that encouraged him to preform live. Over the course of the next four years Minowa worked on what would become the first Cloud Cult album. This first offering brought out offers from a number of different record labels, all of which were denied in favor of continued independent releases (a trend that continues today).

In 2002 in an effort to cope with the unexpected death of his two year old son Minowa went on a songwriting binge. During the course of the next year or so he crafted over one-hundred songs. It is a combination of these songs with others that have been written over the years that have fueled Cloud Cult. If you listen to their lyrics most of them deal with "big picture" ideas - who are we? where are we from? where do we go?...etc.

In the last eight years Cloud Cult has grown largely in popularity. Their last couple albums have received a lot of high praise from people who probably know more about awesome music than me. In 2006, they released "Advice from the Happy Hippopotamus"--great name!, which Pitchfork Media called “insane genius”. In 2007 their release "The Meaning of 8" was labeled by some as one of the top ten albums of the past decade.

Also worth noting...Cloud Cult is known to put on a great live show. One of their very unique features is that they have two painters at every show. The painters each craft a painting during the show that is auctioned off at the Shows end. I have yet to experience them live, but they will be coming to Madison @ The Majestic in early December and there is a pretty good chance I'll be checking that one out.

Just a few weeks ago Cloud Cult turned out another great disc. The album is called "Light Chasers". Here is a taste - pretty phenomenal stuff.

Cloud Cult's Website