A half-dozen cool things in music, from two points of view:
Michael Ethen of Minneapolis:
1 Radiooooo app (for Android or iOS). It's like diving the record store bins — but with the ability to travel space and time! The radio app with five O's lets you choose your station by country, decade (spanning 125 years) and genre (hilariously, your options are "fast" "slow," and "weird"). Go on, take a trip!
2 Runnner, "Starsdust." Bookended by calm tracks, it's a half-hour project that runs the gamut in terms of groove, timbre and harmonic ideas. Deft audio production throughout. Overall, it's a chill thrill that gently stretches the ears. runnner.bandcamp.com/album/starsdust).
3 Punkademic.com. Speaking of audio production, you can learn virtually anything, it seems, with the Minneapolis-based website. From static video courses to interactive Zoom courses, Punkademic.com offers a wide range of topics on music theory and composition plus industry standard software (Ableton, Max, Logic) for as little as $1. There's even music business classes for the entrepreneurs among us.
Jon Bream, Star Tribune critic:
1 Gibson issues collector's edition of Jimmy Page's double-neck guitar. The guitar god supervised the new reproduction of the six- and 12-string guitar that he made famous in concert on "Stairway to Heaven," "The Rain Song" and other Led Zeppelin classics. Only 50 autographed and Page-played guitars will be available at gibson.com. Talk about your stairway to guitar geekdom.
2 JJ Grey & Mofro and Judith Hill, Palace Theatre. In her too-brief opening set, Hill, a former Prince protégée, delivered some torrid blues-funk, with her rangy, impassioned singing, searing guitar and ample solo time for her mother, Michiko Hill, on keyboards. In a long and rambling set, Grey carried on like an ardent blue-eyed Southern soul man sans rock star panache. Note to jam bands: The entire row of eight people in front of me left during the extended duet by the drummer and percussionist.
3 Mae Simpson Band and the People Brothers Band, the Dakota. The Twin Cities' own Simpson, a transplant from South Carolina, brought a fiery soulfulness, with saxophonist Brian "Snowman" Powers and guitarist Jorgen Wadkins II adding hot licks and fun showmanship. In a generous opening set, the People Brothers, from Madison, Wis., brought an organic grooviness.
to contribute: popmusic@startribune.com
