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The Big Takeover Issue #93

Geoffrey Stueven

Geoffrey Stueven lives in Helena, MT or Albuquerque, NM or Twin Cities, MN, depending on when you ask him. If you’re looking for him in Helena, he’ll be found driving his mom to the bank, listening to old tapes in the minivan’s deck. In Albuquerque, he’ll be walking through shadeless neighborhoods, some new mixtape on his iPod redoubling his righteous attitude against the traffic. And in the Twin Cities, he’ll be on the bus (hurry, hurry) or at some show. Try the Turf Club.

Emma Pollock - In Search of Harperfield

Emma Pollock — In Search of Harperfield (Chemikal Underground)

6 December 2016

A late look at one of the year’s best albums. The internal momentum of Pollock’s discography, seemingly impervious to the passage of time and lack of immediate rewards, remains its most striking feature.

Parquet Courts 2/18/16

Parquet Courts – Triple Rock Social Club (Minneapolis) – Thursday, February 18, 2016

20 March 2016

A great live band leaves its ancestors in the dust, then channels The Saints.

Robert Forster - Songs to Play

An Interview with Robert Forster

18 September 2015

The Australian musician continues to step out from the shadow of The Go-Betweens on a new solo set, Songs to Play.

Jenny Hval 9/1/15

Jenny Hval with Briana Marela – 7th Street Entry (Minneapolis, MN) – Tuesday, September 1, 2015

16 September 2015

Arguably the most death anyone’s ever attempted in music.

Local H - Hey, Killer

Local H: No Ghosts

28 August 2015

Scott Lucas talks about the new Local H record, then plays a show at Minneapolis’ Triple Rock.

Rock The Garden (Minneapolis, MN) – Saturday-Sunday, June 20-21, 2015

6 July 2015

Two days, ten acts: thestand4rd, Lucius, Courtney Barnett, Conor Oberst, Belle & Sebastian, The Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger, JD McPherson, Seun Kuti & Egypt 80, Babes in Toyland, and Modest Mouse.

Stephin Merritt 5/15/15

Stephin Merritt with Advance Base – Cedar Cultural Center (Minneapolis, MN) – Friday, May 15, 2015

30 June 2015

H is for Hundred Thousand Fireflies — Prolific writer sings his greatest song at last.

Lady Lamb - 5/5/15

Lady Lamb – 7th Street Entry (Minneapolis, MN) – Tuesday, May 5, 2015

18 June 2015

A fully arrived performer is greeted by smiling strangers, watched by a few less than billions of eyes.

Death Cab for Cutie - 5/2/15

Death Cab for Cutie with The Antlers – Northrop Auditorium (Minneapolis, MN) – Saturday, May 2, 2015

16 June 2015

Let’s count the ways Ben Gibbard is like Neil Tennant. His eternally boyish and sedate voice has logged enough years to be beyond the reach of detractors, at last.

New Pornographers / Stars (First Avenue)

The New Pornographers | Stars – First Avenue (Minneapolis) – Nov. 12, 2014 | Nov. 19, 2014

20 January 2015

If I’d designed the variables and controls myself, I couldn’t have come up with any better experiment to discover a general principle of aging among touring artists.

Ty Segall 9/24/14

Ty Segall with La Luz – Turf Club (St. Paul, MN) – Wednesday, September 24, 2014

11 November 2014

In which Segall christens the remodeled Turf’s most distinctive and enduring feature and re-inaugurates the club as vital.

Mary Gauthier 9/14/14

Mary Gauthier and Sam Baker – Cedar Cultural Center (Minneapolis, MN) – Sunday, September 14, 2014

1 November 2014

“Music is just because you have to have it,” says the songwriter.

Tori Amos 8/3/14

Tori Amos – The O’Shaughnessy (St. Paul, MN) – Sunday, August 3, 2014

21 September 2014

Has an artist ever played such a wide selection of her back catalog, containing so many words and lines of melody, on one tour?

Tune-Yards 7/17/14

Tune-Yards – First Avenue (Minneapolis, MN) – Thursday, July 17, 2014

31 August 2014

Ecstatically opposed to a high concept approach, but with visual sense, and moments.

Sun Kil Moon 7/16/14

Sun Kil Moon – Varsity Theater (Minneapolis, MN) – Wednesday, July 16, 2014

17 August 2014

A night of planet engulfing reverb—the mortal bewilderment of Benji couldn’t be smothered with any less.

Local H 6/6/14

Local H – Triple Rock Social Club (Minneapolis, MN) – Friday, June 6, 2014

6 July 2014

Midwestern rock duo makes music increasingly ravaged by winter, plays a show at the end of the worst one yet.

Rock The Garden (Minneapolis, MN) – Saturday-Sunday, June 21-22, 2014

28 June 2014

Two days, ten acts: Lizzo, Jeremy Messersmith, Best Coast, Matt and Kim, De La Soul, Valerie June, Kurt Vile and the Violators, Dessa, Guided by Voices, and Spoon.

Kishi Bashi 5/30/14

Kishi Bashi with Busman’s Holiday – Fine Line Music Café (Minneapolis, MN) – Friday, May 30, 2014

21 June 2014

An incomparable showman handles the violin with the light and playful manner his celebration rock requires.

Devon Williams - Gilding The Lily

Devon Williams – Gilding The Lily (Slumberland)

14 June 2014

Rhapsody for an overlooked composer.

Matt Pond PA 5/12/14

Matt Pond PA – Turf Club (St. Paul, MN) – Monday, May 12, 2014

2 June 2014

On the Emblems anniversary tour, the band is determined to articulate every sound as powerfully as possible, as if the songs, ten years older but ten times more vivid, can be made new again.

Angel Olsen 5/1/14

Angel Olsen – Cedar Cultural Center (Minneapolis, MN) – Thursday, May 1, 2014

25 May 2014

Everything profound she follows with a laugh, sometimes in the middle of a song if she can break its spell.

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - Days of Abandon

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart – Days of Abandon (Yebo Music)

15 May 2014

Basically I’d rank the songs according to how much of the heavier guitar sound of Belong they jettison, not because I wanted that to happen, but because Berman seems to have needed it.

St. Vincent 4/3/14

St. Vincent – State Theatre (Minneapolis, MN) – Thursday, April 3, 2014

8 May 2014

Annie Clark enacts a kind of science fiction story told in the relationship between herself and her guitar.

Against Me! 4/2/14

Against Me! – First Avenue (Minneapolis, MN) – Wednesday, April 2, 2014

28 April 2014

They squashed my ego, broke down all barriers of self-definition and aesthetics that one might use as quarantine, left me standing there stunned with only these words: What can I say, it’s a great band.

Alejandro Escovedo 3/30/14

Alejandro Escovedo – Dakota Jazz Club (Minneapolis, MN) – Sunday, March 30, 2014

23 April 2014

“Stand up, your father’s passing,” someone might have said.

the Sonics at First Avenue, Minneapolis

The Sonics with The Suicide Commandos, Charlie Pickett, and Curtiss A’s Jerks of Fate – First Avenue (Minneapolis, MN) – Saturday, March 1, 2014

1 April 2014

The greatest garage rock band in the world, brought to you by the Reverend Little Richard Penniman.

MEN 2/1/14

JD Samson & MEN with Kitten Forever – 7th Street Entry (Minneapolis, MN) – Saturday, February 1, 2014

11 February 2014

In which Samson’s big pants emphasize and also encumber the parts of the body her dance pop compels to movement.

Cate Le Bon 1/25/14

Cate Le Bon with Kevin Morby – 7th Street Entry (Minneapolis, MN) – Saturday, January 25, 2014

4 February 2014

I suspect her band has tried the songs at every conceivable speed and then, finding the right one, often at the pace of deceptive leisure, they can finally play and let out their endless sigh.

Jeremy Jay: Synced In Time

20 January 2014

The London-based songwriter talks about his excellent new album Abandoned Apartments, his recent movie work, and his L.A. past.

Bonnie 'Prince' Billy 12/16/13

Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy – Cedar Cultural Center (Minneapolis, MN) – Monday, December 16, 2013

30 December 2013

In his shifting pronouns, in person, I got the fullest sense of Oldham’s expansive affection.

The Breeders 12/12/13

The Breeders with Speedy Ortiz – First Avenue (Minneapolis, MN) – Thursday, December 12, 2013

30 December 2013

Last Splash, recreated with astonishing opulence and precision for at least the first five songs, then with forgivably less precision after that.

Mazzy Star 11/12/13

Mazzy Star with Psychic Ills – Mill City Nights (Minneapolis, MN) – Tuesday, November 12, 2013

24 November 2013

Dim lights, a carefully prepared stage: Some part of the band’s magic comes from these kinds of monumental concessions to Hope Sandoval’s shyness.

Swearin’ – Surfing Strange

Swearin’ – Surfing Strange (Salinas)

4 November 2013

Kelley Deal 6000 to Waxahatchee’s Breeders, but with a fairer chance of matching the popularity of the sister band.

Neko Case 10/17/13

Neko Case with Lucy Wainwright Roche – First Avenue (Minneapolis, MN) – Thursday, October 17, 2013

2 November 2013

Case & Co. play music with unpredictable energy, regardless the clarity of the vocal that guides it.

Franz Ferdinand 10/9/13

Franz Ferdinand with Frankie Rose – Skyway Theatre (Minneapolis, MN) – Wednesday, October 9, 2013

18 October 2013

Their status as showmen quickly overrides any indifference to the substance of the show.

Bill Callahan - Dream River

Bill Callahan – Dream River (Drag City)

3 October 2013

Mystery is a limitation in the Callahan universe, illumination a deeper quality, even when the answers it provides aren’t very straightforward.

Frankie Rose - Herein Wild

Frankie Rose – Herein Wild (Fat Possum)

25 September 2013

One of the most straightforward sequels a great album ever had.

Monogamy Party

Exclusive album premiere: False Dancers by Monogamy Party

10 September 2013

We’re excited to premiere Monogamy Party’s tough new album on Good To Die Records, in advance of its September 17 release date.

Julia Holter - Loud City Song

Julia Holter – Loud City Song (Domino)

2 September 2013

Hope for the return of the MGM musical, immediately dashed by her rarity.

Laura Veirs - Warp and Weft

Laura Veirs – Warp and Weft (Raven Marching Band)

22 August 2013

In an inhospitable country, she’s scaled family life and music to a size that might allow them to endure.

Gaytheist - Hold Me

Gaytheist – Hold Me … But Not So Tight (Good To Die)

25 July 2013

Minutemen vs. Gaytheist: a contest centuries in the making!

Hunx & His Punx - Street Punk

Hunx & His Punx – Street Punk (Hardly Art)

23 July 2013

If your world isn’t this band’s, then it can shut up for 20 minutes.

Rogue Wave - Nightingale Floors

Rogue Wave – Nightingale Floors (Vagrant)

25 June 2013

I’ll agree with the assessment of Nightingale Floors as a return to form, but not in any way that requires me to whitewash the excellence and weirdness of the band’s recent history.

Sad Baby Wolf – Electric Sounds

Sad Baby Wolf – Electric Sounds (self-released)

18 June 2013

No longer weary with youth, Marty Crandall and friends make a joyous rock ‘n’ roll record.

Alex Bleeker and the Freaks - How Far Away

Alex Bleeker & The Freaks – How Far Away (Woodsist)

6 June 2013

Impressions from inside the time cloud.

John Grant - Pale Green Ghosts

John Grant - Pale Green Ghosts (Partisan)

16 May 2013

Certain victories aside, Grant remains a pretty uncertain guy, the type who just can’t stop being unfair to himself, comparing himself to movie stars, etc.

Deerhunter - Monomania

Deerhunter - Monomania (4AD)

13 May 2013

There’s a pretty consistent layer of analog filth, but the music as always comes across as immaculately clean, purified by art.

The Thermals - Desperate Ground

The Thermals – Desperate Ground (Saddle Creek)

13 April 2013

They spill blood on the land when the audience commands; our love survives because they’ve done their job well.

The Mary Onettes - Hit The Waves

The Mary Onettes - Hit The Waves (Labrador)

14 March 2013

Oh no, I’ve said too much. I haven’t said enough.