Author: rakemag

When everyone discovered CDs in the early nineties, Richard Shelton was conspicuously absent from the bandwagon. Instead, he was busy adding to his LP collection, which he had started when he was ten years old. Today he’s got more than eighteen thousand platters, spanning the past half-century of popular music. But it’s not all about the music; in fact, it’s mainly about the record jacket. Shelton, who teaches animation and music history at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, reveres the LP as an exceptional vehicle for art. His collection, which includes some of the most beautiful, shocking, and era-defining works of design of the past half-century, is to be seen and heard. About four hundred of his LP jackets are currently on view at the Goldstein Museum of Design.THE RAKE: What was the first album you bought?

SHELTON:The first extremely memorable one that I got was The Beatles 1967-1970, a greatest-hits collection.

Were you consciously collecting for the artwork, or for the music?

I definitely wasn’t conscious of the art at that point. I was obsessed with rock music, and it became a way to sort of escape things in my life. When I went to art college, I became more aware of the art.

Where do you buy your records?

I used to get them mainly at garage sales. When I lived in Los Angeles, I’d get them at swap meets. Now I buy a lot of the records at stores. And I buy lots of big collections. I run an event called the Record Show, where people can buy and sell records every couple months, so people know who I am. They call me if they want to sell things privately. Have you come to regret selling a particular record? I regret, like, hundreds of records I sold. It’s just ridiculous for me to even say that, because I sold so many records. But I do have regrets, for a number of reasons. I miss them, or they’ve just gone up so much in value that I look back and say, “What was I thinking?”

What’s your most valuable record?

A Jack Kerouac record with Steve Allen, which was put out on the Dot Label. Then the owner of the label heard it and immediately had those records recalled and destroyed. A few slipped out. Before I got my copy, I’d never even seen a reproduction. It has the most beautiful woodcut; its value is between ten and twelve thousand dollars. I can’t put that record in the show.

Have you ever had an adventure while adding to your collection?

That’s a good share of the reason why I collect. I consider meeting all these people, going to their houses, getting to see how they live to be an adventure. I was at a swap meet in Los Angeles long ago, and this couple showed up with thousands of records. I bought hundreds of them. They invited me to their farm outside L.A., and then the next thing I knew, I was in a barn with literally seventy thousand records in there. For weeks I sneaked away from graduate school, going back and digging through those records. One that I found there was an Elvis forty-five on Sun, “Mystery Train,” an extremely rare record. Probably thirty thousand of those records were in bad condition, but they were just amazing to look at.

If someone called you today with a certain record to sell, what would you want it to be?

John Coltrane. He’s one of my favorite musicians. His very first record was on Prestige, and an original pressing of that is very hard to find. I’d be very excited if that record was available.

Do you listen to much modern music?

I try to, but I’m so obsessed with older stuff. In the car I listen to Radio K. I’m not interested in the oldies station, since I have all those records.

Hip Art That’s Square runs through April 3 at the Goldstein Museum of Design, 244 McNeal Hall, 1985 Buford Ave., St. Paul; 612-624-7434; goldstein.che.umn.edu

When the Smiths stepped down from their precious perch in 1987, the Wedding Present was conveniently poised to fill the cultural void. After all, with one fewer mopey, jangly British band out there, there were legions of goofy, sensitive fellows in black T-shirts looking for someone new to emulate. Dave Gedge, along with a cast of unloyal bandmates that has turned over several times since the band’s inception, fixed that problem right up. His artful swagger and catchy songs were the perfect pleasure for the self-obsessed. The Wedding Present disbanded in 1997, then reunited last December to play a tribute show to the late John Peel. Now it looks like the band is on yet again, and this Valentine’s Day present to long-suffering fans tells tales that cross the water, as Gedge takes inspiration from his days in Seattle and then journeys back to the old sod.

Over the course of five albums, the Donnas have traversed the hazy netherland between punk and metal without ever really falling in with either camp. They seem more interested in simply rocking out than hanging a label on their riff-heavy music. It’s got the bubblegumminess of the Ramones, the street snarl of the Runaways, and even a lingering whiff of classic guitar rock like, say, the Who or AC/DC; in short, a little something for everyone who’s ever worn a black leather jacket. On Gold Medal, these veterans of the “Chicks Who Rock” movement keep the party going strong and the volume turned up plenty loud. Available now

Violinist and composer O’Connor made two fine classical-Americana albums with cellist Yo-Yo Ma and bassist Edgar Meyer, but the trio’s concert performances were limited because, let’s face it, Mr. Ma has a few other gigs going. O’Connor does, too, but he’s assembled a new trio with Natalie Haas on cello and Carol Cook on viola that reworks these tunes in a recorded concert performance. Rather than fading into the background of a PBS documentary, this rustically elegiac music rushes to the fore and commands your full attention.

A decade ago, Lovett got all sorts of attention for being a new (read: progressive) kind of country artist, but his inner good ol’ boy has gradually emerged. A couple of years back, he nearly got stomped to death by a bull, and we’re not sure if this is somehow related, but last month he ushered in the second G.W. Bush administration by headlining the “Black Tie and Boots” Ball. If anyone out there thinks he’s still somehow “alt country” or a kinder, gentler redneck, well, we’ve got some West Texas scrubland to sell you. Still, there’s a considerable amount of songwriting heft on this bill, what with Lovett’s swing-inflected balladry, Hiatt’s soulful anthems, Ely’s rough-hewn roots-rock, and Clark’s sharp-eyed folk storytelling. Any one of these artists could keep a concert audience rapt; collectively, they ought to leave our heads reeling with well-turned phrases and melodies. 805 Hennepin Ave., Minneapolis; 612-339-7007, www.hennepintheatredistrict.com www.hennepintheatredistrict.com

What is it about Modest Mouse that has everyone’s palms sweating with glee? There are a few important elements: a reverence for Built to Spill that verges on the spiritual; the buoyantly hardcore shout/singing, and most of all, an uncanny way of using the most oblique approach possible to convey the most direct of feelings. It also doesn’t hurt that lead singer/ guitarist Isaac Brock cuts his own hair and is buddies with another West Coast indie icon, Beat Happening’s Calvin Johnson. In the last year, the mainstream profile of this trio from Issaquah, Washington, formed in 1993, has soared enough so that its old-time fans are no doubt grumbling. Major exposure came through Mouse placement on that Masterpiece Theater for ‘tweeners, The O.C., and beer and truck advertisements have also introduced the band to new audiences. What are they all getting? The band’s cranky brand of guitar pop throws forth this anti-message message: “Life generally stinks, but there is light at the end of this emo tunnel.” 701 First Ave. N., Minneapolis; 612-332-1775, www.first-avenue.com www.first-avenue.com

These ladies won’t go down without a fight. Among those local theater companies who remain dedicated to content that’s challenging, political, and thought provoking and yes, still great fun Frank Theatre is at the top of our list. In its past two seasons, this freewheeling company has mounted two of the best Minnesotan productions in recent memory: Marc Blitzstein’s folk opera (The Cradle Will Rock) and Suzan-Lori Parks’ (Brechtian The A Play) (as it was euphemistically called in gentler publications such as ours). With (The Women of Troy), artistic director Wendy Knox marries two Greek tragedies, The Trojan Women and Hecuba. Both are by Euripides, and both concern widowed Trojan women who await their fates at the hands of the Greeks after the fall of their city. No doubt a big part of the treat here will be the show’s original blues-funk-opera score, which includes a great new ditty to backdrop Cassandra’s madness. “A” Mill Complex, 300 Second St. S.E., Minneapolis; 612-724-3760; www.franktheatre.org www.franktheatre.orgu