Elite Gymnastics is James Brooks and Josh Clancy. The duo have been receiving quite a bit of national attention for their brand of chillwave tunage. From the New York Post to Pitchfork, these two are getting positive reviews. Minneapolis’ own City Pages had this to say:
…a trance-inducing quality to them, akin to sitting in a darkened opium den listening to ’80s dance hits stream out of a telephone receiver, off in the distance, softly yet persistently.
Check them out for yourself below and if you likey you can listen to more via their MySpace page and/or download their Real Friends EP for free here:
The crowd and judges went cuckoo for “sticks” at the Soap Factory’s 10 Second Film Festival last night – the announcer and the crowd of thousands continued to chant “sticks” long after it screened, especially after I neglected to claim the win (until later) because I couldn’t hear anything! Gee whiz, what can a fella say but thanks to the Soap Factory, Chris Cloud, Dan Huiting, and Kevin Albertson from MPLS.tv, the local celebrity judges Barb Abney from 89.3 The Current, Chris Pennington, and Robyne Robinson. Yet another thousand reasons why Minneapolis is the greatest city in the universe : )
“Lars can eat carrots really fast” was a crowd pleaser, too, and when i didn’t hear the call to claim the award for ‘sticks’ evidently they chose this as the next winner, which i didn’t go up for either because i STILL couldn’t hear anything! : P
The sounds these guys make are made to be experienced live and man, look out because the grooves powered by Brady’s bass and Freddy’s drums carry the audience off to dance land.
The clip below does their thing little justice but after their set @ the 501 Club last night, I had to mention them here – it was unforgettably good:
For those of us who commute on our bicycles to work each day, this is our worst nightmare : yesterday at 4:23 a.m. officers in the Fifth Precinct were dispatched to a report of the body of a man in the roadway at Excelsior Boulevard and West 32nd Street. When officers arrived they found the body of a male in his sixties lying in the street. It appears that the victim had been riding his bicycle eastbound on Excelsior Boulevard when he was struck by a vehicle and killed. The driver left the scene and made no report.
Thus, the Minneapolis Police Department is seeking our help in locating the driver and vehicle responsible for this. The vehicle should have significant front end damage. Anyone with information please call the T.I.P.S. line at 612-692-TIPS (8477).
This music draws elements from the electronically produced precision of a drum machine, to the sounds of quirky lopsided carnival rides and is composed for the timeless arrangement of a piano trio yet is written and performed with personalized programmed sounds and effects. The acoustic bass and drum-set are utilized in ways quite characteristic to that of their role in a traditional jazz trio, but extreme attention is given to exploring the sounds, timbres, range, and personality of the instruments. The songwriting also pays homage to its roots of traditional “American jazz“ heritage; structurally: having themes and improvised variations, (heads and solos) as well as a harmonically: ranging between definite chord changes, modal, and atonal. Also as in the standard practice of “traditional jazzâ€Â, Hips Don’t Lie improvise in the style of popular music of the day. They often don’t “swing†their eighth-notes and instead play in rhythmic feels more closely related to rap, dub, and afro-beat music. Davu Seru and Pete Henning bring in the drums.
They throw each and every bowl by hand. Then, for an in-kind donation they fill your bowl with homemade soup. Eat the deliciousness and then keep the bowl. The funds generated go to neighborhood resources to help put an end to hunger in MPLS. They have already made a significant impact in their short history so far.
This is the stuff this country SHOULD be more about.