The Rake Magazine

Author: rakemag

  • Mahler’s The Song of the Earth

    Mahler’s romantic, moody, and sometimes maudlin compositions were among the final artistic statements of the nineteenth century, a goodbye to all that and a wary greeting to a new century. In the symphonic song cycle The Song of the Earth, he sets themes from Chinese poetry about the end of things to music that moves from death-tramping gloom to rarefied joy. The end result, at once transcendent and emotionally demanding, sort of approximates the feel of life passing before your eyes. 651-291-1144; www.thespco.org

  • Trampled By Turtles

    The definitive sound of the North Country remains elusive, even as the Twin Ports become glutted with great live music venues and bands worth checking out. Is Duluth a folk music town, or a hotbed of alternative rock? We have no idea, but straddling those genres is Trampled By Turtles—a band loosely related to a bluegrass quartet, boasting banjo and bad attitude. They’ll rip into a Bill Monroe classic one moment, and follow it up with a meandering Radiohead reverie. This set of shows celebrates the Turtles’ new album, Red Alert: Trouble Ahead. If this is what Duluth sounds like, then we definitely need to visit more often. 612-332-1775; www.first-avenue.com

  • Elif Shafak CANCELLED

    PLEASE NOTE: THIS EVENT CANCELLED.

    “If there is a thief in a novel,” said Elif Shafak recently, “it doesn’t make the novelist a thief.” Nevertheless, the Turkish novelist faced three years in prison for the purported crime of “insulting Turkishness” by having an Armenian character in her novel The Bastard of Istanbul refer to Turks as “butchers.” What’s more, Shafak was forced to watch her televised trial from the hospital bed where she had just given birth to her first child. Though she was acquitted, the case shed light on the culture clash within Turkish society. Shafak herself pointed to “those who want an open and democratic society” on one side, and, on the other, “those who speak the language of fear … [who are] so aggressive that they manage to manipulate the political agenda and give the country a black eye.” Sound familiar? 300 Nicollet Mall, Minneapolis; 612-630-6174; www.friendsofmpl.org

  • Singles Party, Gossip

    Got my hands on somethin’ here:

    —–Original Message—–
    From: Thomas Lee [tlee@startribune.com]
    Sent: Tuesday, January 23, 2007 11:28 AM
    To: Pat Sukhum
    Subject: Singles party

    Hi Pat,
    I received your contact info from Simon Groebner, who mentioned that you threw a singles party last year. I am a Star Tribune reporter who is working on a story about singles parties for vita.mn, our new tab geared towards younger adults. I am co-hosting a singles party in the Warehouse District this Saturday night and was wondering if I could borrow your guest list, e-mail addresses, etc.. At the very least, could you pass on the party details to singles you
    know? Thanks…T

    Rosalyn Park, Thomas Lee
    Location: 5th Avenue Lofts
    401 N. 2nd Street, Minneapolis, MN View Map
    When: Saturday, January 27, 8:00pm
    Phone: 612-203-9500, 612-202-2307
    It’s the singles party you’ve been waiting
    for… come over to the Warehouse District to have a glass of
    wine, meet some new singles, and have a great
    time!

    There is no cover. Ages range is 21-40.

    When RSVPing, please indicate which GENDER you are, so we can keep our ratio 50/50. RSVP to tlee1212@gmail.com

    When you arrive at 5th Avenue Lofts, dial 241 for the Community
    Room to gain entrance. The Community Room is on the 5th floor.

    And remember, your fellow single hosts Tom and Rose will be writing an article about the party for vita.mn, and there will be a
    photographer present–so, flash a winning smile at that new single
    someone, and have fun!

  • Everything, everything

    Here’s what I’ve been so excited for: tonight I’m going, with my good friend Adam, to the Weinstein Gallery, where my favorite visual artist is opening a new exhibition. And I even got to interview David Rathman for the new February issue. (This hits stands on Monday but is online right now.) Rathman and I yakked a lil’ bit about this new show, Home and Away, which happens to be his first Minnesota exhibition since his cowboy drawings caused a stir at the Walker Art Center back in 2003. The subject of this new show? Football players. But not the gold-studded NFL variety. Rather, Rathman traveled to Montana to capture images of six-man games–lonely matches with the clouds and mountains ringing in. (Get a peek here.)

    On Saturday I’m going to the 5 p.m. Electric Arc Radio show, of course. Then it’s off to the Kramer’s Ergot reception at Macalester.

    Sunday: the St. Paul Winter Carnival and then the Harriet Island Pavilion, where Three Sticks Theatre Company will be performing A Midwinter Night’s Dream. This is the same company that, in 2005, did the fantastically physical Fringe Show Mythed. They then topped themselves at the 2006 Fringe with their comic look at bureaucracy, Borderlines.

  • Victory Forgives Dishonesty

    The last of the Walker’s Out There shows opens tonight. I don’t know much about this weekend’s featured artists, The Riot Group, who are apparently an absurdist creator of political satire, but I did pick up on this snazzy bit from the Walker’s press release about ’em: these guys are apparently “riffing on influences as disparate as Moby Dick and the Marine Corps manual” in this show, Pugilist Specialist. So, I guess this will be something of a meditation on the U.S.’s eerily misguided searches for evil in foreign lands–replete with spooky music and a barren stage. Don’t miss it.

    Coming tomorrow: Cheap, outdoor theater from one of the least known but most physically inventive theater troupes in town. Oh, and my favorite visual artist David Rathman. And maybe a dash more of Kramer’s Ergot.

  • She leaped over somethin'

    Katherine Lanpher reads from her new memoir Leap Days this evening at Magers and Quinn. I just finished up the book last week. This one I devoured, mostly on account of its provincial delights. I used to work at Theatre de la Jeune Lune, for one. And Lanpher spends much time unpacking her failed marriage to former Jeune Lune artistic director Vincent Gracieux. There were a few references to local media types too, and I picked up on at least one Strib ex-pat. (John Habich? Was that you?) But I kept waiting for her to mention, oh, I don’t know, perhaps that much-publicized DWI. Or maybe the other man she fell in love with while still married to Gracieux–she only grazes the surface of this one. But I’d be similarly guilty of omission if I didn’t say that Lanhper has a knack for a conversational writing style that rather sucks you in. What’s more, I enjoyed wading through her feminist musings.

  • Late Breaking

    From the department of good news: I just found out about this rock show at the Hexagon tonight. Check it! It’s called the 8 Ball Unplugged. Twenty-three acts each do eight-minute sets. Here’s the lineup, roughly:

    Faux Jean

    Bill Caperton

    Bethany Larson

    Danny Sigelman (MPR night dj guy)

    Brian Just (Beight)

    Brad Senne (Beight)

    Travis and Jonny

    Anthony Newes

    Johnny (Friends Like These)

    Jacob Grun (It From Bit)

    The Nightinghales

    Bernie King

    Abisha & Jessie (Sick Of Sarah)

    Andy Elwell

    Fit To Burn

    Chris Dorn (from the Beatifics, a personal fave)

    First Communion Afterparty

    Luke Redfield

    Jennifer Markey

    Orion Treon (Plastic Chord)

  • What to look forward to

    Tomorrow is the “worst day of the year,” according to the BBC. This explains a lot. Brace yourselves, friends, and know that the next few days offer little in the way of mirthful distraction. However, for five bucks you can attend this evening’s staged reading of Shawn Lawrence Otto’s newest screenplay, Dreams of a Dying Heart. Otto is the dude who wrote The House of Sand and Fog. This new one’s about a female fighter pilot getting shot down over Iraq. It’s not exactly the thing that’ll stave off the blues. And you won’t wake feeling any better on Wednesday either.

    Speaking of Iraq and the blues, last week I saw a preview of a heart wrenching and dangerous flick that’s coming soon to the Bell: Iraq in Fragments. I watched it while all alone in my dark apartment and even got a little misty during the first and third fragments.

    So says the BBC: one of the reasons folks find themselves depressed is that there’s little to look forward to during this time of year. For me however, there’s a light at the end of the tunnel–and that’s the coming weekend, packed as it is with enticements. For one, there’s another installment of the Electric Arc Radio Show on Saturday. Or make that two installments. Turns out, the eight p.m. performance sold out so quickly that the Lit 6 and Creative Electric folks added a “preview” at five. This works out quite well for me, as I’m dying to get over the St. Paul for the Kramer’s Ergot reception at seven. I’ll write more about the coming weekend on Friday, I suppose. Until then, I’ll be the one biting my cuticles and biding the time.

  • 34

    Last fall, in conjunction with that music issue we did, there was an Up The Charts poll on our website which asked: Who is your all time favorite Minnesota band/musician? Well, weren’t we surprised to see Tina and the B-Sides fans come out in full-force, taking away top honors. (This was probably due to an email solicitation to the band’s fan list, but ah well.) Hoping there’s still Tina fans lingering about our humble site, I toss to thee a bone: Tina’s playing the T-Rock tonight, this as part of Rock For Roe, or celebrating the anniversary of the Roe v. Wade.