Party Ends

                                                     (photo cred link) 

   Maybe it is just the Hold Steady’s graceful devotion to the Twin Cities that has been occupying my mind all week, or maybe its just coincidence that I just ran across a great little DIY comp called “Twin Cities Electropunk Volume 4” but I can’t seem to escape music coming from the cold weather filled home of the Twins.  The way Craig Finn paints it, Minnesota is full of drugs, horse races, and people talking like characters out of Springsteen songs- but this comp leads me to believe that there are some diamonds in the synthesizer-loving ruff up in Minneapolis and St. Paul.  It is not all my cup of tea per se- some of the artists get a little too Ramestein-y for my taste but some of it is fantastic- the Standout acts are Avenpitch, Iron Balls Magente, Zibra Zibra (could easily pass as a TMBG cover band) Unicorn Basement and Gigi Ranchero.

   The intentions of the comp series is incredibly noble. The tightly knit electronic music underground prints up 1,000 copies and gives them away for FREE.  Don’t live up there- no problemo- they also post the compilations online at www.tcelectropunk.com for free download.  Not too shabby.  

Here is a taste:
MP3: Iron Balls Magente- Corporate Trance

   Congrats to Jason who won the Hold Steady ticket contest! His favorite hold steady song is “Citrus” and who will be going to the show tomorrow night at Emo’s for free!    Thanks to EVERYONE who entered and as always thanks for reading the website.