We’re very excited to have Schuur back in Minneapolis. Through her decorated singing career, we’ve come to expect her to trot out the jazz and pop standards—from big-band arrangements to intimate nightclub combos. But her third record came out last summer, and it was a wonderful departure, pairing her with the one and only Barry … Read more
Perpetually touring Ani DiFranco hits the stage with a few of her favorite f-words—“folk,” “feminism,” and undoubtedly one more—as she continues her winter tour after a much-deserved monthlong hiatus. Intimate venues have always been DiFranco’s preference, and the Northrop will be a fitting platform from which to unveil tracks from her latest album, Endangered Species, … Read more
Maybe Governor Pawlenty’s idea of reinstating the death penalty in Minnesota will spur young people into some political interest, if not action. My stepdaughter was certainly disturbed when her research on the issue turned up the facts of the last Minnesotan execution in 1906, which didn’t go well. The hangman miscalculated the necessary calibration between … Read more
Reports are sunny regarding David Bowie’s newest album, Reality. It’s a good thing. The Thin White Duke’s career (gawd, we always hated that sobriquet; gawd, we hate that word, “sobriquet”) has been marked by long lazy periods where his butt was comfortably installed on its nest of laurels. But once a decade or so, he … Read more
Every small town used to have its hip record store, run by college dropouts who were looking for a volume discount on punk rock and one-hitters. The Lost Chord down in Mankato is where we first came across the Church, twenty years ago. They were Australia’s answer to the Psychedelic Furs and Bauhaus, hidden away … Read more
I conducted a little poll among the usual crowd—meaning Ben, Pete, and Don. I asked them what they thought about the body-hair issue. I was gratified by the wide variety of answers I got. (OK, here’s your mixed-metaphor alert: Buckle up, we’re going for broke on this one.) Pete says his wife likes a completely … Read more
Just six months after releasing The Man on the Burning Tightrope, acerbic New York combo Firewater returns with this collection of covers, a good showcase for their sense of the smartly sinister. We’ve got no argument with their song selection, a nice blend of the obvious (“Folsom Prison Blues”) and unexpected (“This Little Light of … Read more
We’ve never cared for the term “blaxploitation,” but we do love the movies it describes—those early-seventies action flicks that explored the experiences of African-Americans in ass-kickingly cinematic terms. They’re very much of their time—funk and seventies fashion at its most outlandishly ghetto-fabulous—but also full of attitudes toward gays and women that wouldn’t fly today. And … Read more
“You know, you’ve got beautiful nipples for piercing,” she said. “Yeah,” he replied. Zac was nervous—his voice unnecessarily loud and shaky. “You should do three to four piercings in these nipples,” she said. How old was he? Eighteen. Ever been to Saint Sabrina’s before? No. How long had he had the lip ring? About a … Read more
Who’d have thought that a documentary about spelling would be one of the most tension-filled, broadly American films of the year? True, some of us here at The Rake find it fascinating to see a bunch of bright young folks on the fast track to careers in the glamorous field of magazine copyediting, but we … Read more