Friday, December 30, 2011

What are you doing at 3pm CST today?

Within the next week I'll be posting a 15 or so track Empty's Tapes 2011 Compilation. Today sometime after 3pm I'll be on Radio K's Off The Record to play some tracks from the compilation. Have a listen if you feel like it!

Off The Record airs every Friday from 3-5pm and is streamable on their site.

100.7 FM Metro Area 24/7
104.5 FM Metro Area 24/7
106.5 FM Minneapolis 4:30PM-8:00AM
770 AM Minneapolis/St. Paul Daylight Hours

Thursday, December 29, 2011

Last Alas, Alas Show Until Summer 2012!


Alas, Alas
w/ The Brass Messengers (amazing, you know the name) & inBoil (let Phil clear out those tear ducts)

Alas, Alas will be joined by some very special guests for a very special pre-New Year's Eve-Eve yarnstore party!

Alas, Alas is playing their last show until summer 2012!
Hand-picked for the occasion, the immaculate sprawling yarn palace that is Steven Be, complete with elegant chandelier, was only a natural choice for Alas, Alas to celebrate their second of two shows of the season.

$5 suggested donation
Doors at 8:00, music at 8:30
THIS IS REAL TIME, NOT PUNK TIME. DON'T BE LATE.
All Ages
Enter through the back door, by the alley off of 35th street


How good at social networking are you?

I left my gear at the TFATT house Saturday morning in a made dash to a cab back to my house to meet the road tripping pal. Loaned the 414's to Drew Friday night to record some Alas, Alas songs. Tonight I am reunited with my gear!

Friday, December 23, 2011

Leaving Town For A Few Days.

I'm excited to see my Grandparents. I probably would have gotten into a lot more trouble when I was younger hadn't it been for them and they mean the world to me for several reasons. My Grandfather is 81 years old but still acts and feels like he's 61 which is a beautiful thing. Oh yeah, the food. There Will Be Food. Home cooked food that I'm only around once or twice a year if I'm lucky.

Recently recorded...

Friday December 16th
The Triple Rock Social Club
Big Quarters CD Release
w/ Los Nativos and No Bird Sing (hosted by Crescent Moon)

Saturday December 17th
The Cedar Cultural Center
The Book of Right On
w/ Kill the Vultures, Gay Witch Abortion, Wizards Are Real

Wednesday December 21st
The 7th Street Entry
The Night 7" Release Show
w/ The Rope, Ghost in the Water and The Trapezoids

Join me again this evening at The Entry for...

Friday December 23rd
The 7th Street Entry
Animal Lover
w/ The Funeral & the Twilight, Small White and Divorced
8 doors 9 music | 18+ | $5.00 adv | $5.00 door

On that note, everyone here at Empty's Tapes (me) wishes you a happy and safe weekend with your family and or friends.

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

The Night 7" Release Show @ The Entry Tonight.

Wednesday 12/21
7th Street Entry
The Night 7" Release Show
with The Rope, and Ghost in the Water, The Trapezoids
8:00 pm | 18+ | $5.00 adv | $5.00 door

Interview with The Night. Set times per facespace:

Trapezoids - 9pm
Ghost in the Water - 10pm
The Night - 11pm
The Rope - 12am

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Early Sound Recordings From Alexander Graham Bell Recovered.

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

A large glass photodisc from the Smithsonian collection of early sound recordings.

Early Sound Recordings From Alexander Graham Bell Recovered, Played Again.
by Wright Bryan

"Sound recordings that hadn't been heard since they were first made by Alexander Graham Bell and others in the 1880s were played publicly Tuesday at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C.

The sounds captured in the collection include recited verse, sounds such as trilling and basic spoken information such as the date.

The recordings — long stored at the Smithsonian Institution — were made on cylinders and discs of varying design. The Library of Congress teamed up with the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory to decode the recordings. The AP describes the process:

"Many recordings are fragile, and until recently it had not been possible to listen to them without damaging the discs or cylinders, the news release said. So far, six discs have been successfully submitted to the sound recovery process, which creates a high-resolution digital map of the disc or cylinder. The map is processed to remove scratches and skips, and software reproduces the audio content and produces a standard digital sound file."

More detailed information on how the maps are made can be found on the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory's website. You can actually listen to some of the recovered sound on another page at the same site."

- Original article can be found here courtesy of NPR.

Sunday, December 18, 2011

Hymie's Records Respect From Chicago.

I love Hymie's. This is a really great read from the Chicago Sun Times so I wanted to share it with you. Dave Hoekstra is more than welcome to join the next East Lake Taquería Crawl.

MINNEAPOLIS — A great record store can provide a memorable soundtrack to any road trip.

When I travel, I try to find an independent record store to buy local music. I ask the staff what’s going on in their city. It’s the same deal used in meeting folks at a farmer’s market. But I’ve often found people to be more friendly at a farmer’s market than at a record store. My experience has been the more used vinyl, the more scratchy the store owner.

Hymie’s Vintage Records on East Lake Street near the Minneapolis-St. Paul border is not that kind of place. Read more...


Hymie's Vintage Records
3318 E Lake St Minneapolis, MN 55406
(612) 729-8890

Friday, December 16, 2011

Foods.

Yeah, yeah every once and a while I talk about food on a live recordings site. It's the simple things that keep us happy. Click on the images to enlarge.

I've always enjoyed the mac n cheese at The Triple Rock. I'd have to do some digging to recall what show was going down on 10/13/11 but I'll never forget the first time I ordered the mac n cheese with pickled jalapeno. Highly recommended and if you're my friend Josh you might ask for a hot dog to be chopped up in there as well. As always it comes with a healthy slice of toasted french bread.

If you know me you know I'm a wing fiend. 10/23/11 with buffalo wings at The Cedar Inn on 42nd & Cedar, which in my opinion serves the best wings in all of South Minneapolis if not the entire city. They do the full quarter wing, no TGI Friday's drummy action here. I believe a half dozen is only $7.99 (most places charge $9 or $10 for a bunch of drummys) and they are available in plain, buffalo and an "Asian" sauce which is sweet and delicious. They're made in small batches in some kind of pressure cooker that closes from the top and is spun shut.

10/24/11 chips & salsa at the Hola Arepa food truck. Even though you can't go wrong with a single item on this menu (yes, including the arepas) if I was in a hurry last summer I would stop by the Hola Arepa truck and grab an order of chips & salsa. At $2 it's definitely a speedy and economical way to fill your stomach. Plus you get to try your choice of 2 stellar salsas with 4 or 5 options.

One of the main stand outs from last year's street food season was certainly Natedogs. Hell, I don't even really care for hot dogs but these were the best I've ever had. I'll let Nate do the talking here; "I serve up quality wieners & brats sourced from Pastures A Plenty in Kerkhoven, MN. I make my own homemade sauerkraut and 3-5 different housemade mustards, including a rotating beer mustard that I make with local beers." To be honest I can't stand mustard of any kind and I'm not from the East Coast so I'm down with ketchup on my dogs. With that said, knowing that Nate is a purist I never once asked him for ketchup. I always opted for the "naked dog" (10/27/11) or maybe some caramelized onions. I'd dare say some of the freshest and cleanest tasting hot dogs in the Upper Midwest.

I recently stumbled onto The Simple Sandwich in the skyway. My go to is the vegetarian wrap with a wheat or spinach tortilla with pepper jack or provolone and lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, sprouts, jalapenos & green peppers (no thanks to raw onions & mushrooms). If you dislike mustard and mayo as much as I do then don't forget the "spicy cranberry" spread. A steal at $4.99 on Wednesdays.

Vegetarian Pho from Lotus To Go Go, a thing of beauty. After a good night of self-abuse I crave a bowl of this more than anything else.

A couple of weekends ago (12/04/11) Muddy Waters started offering a "Cuban Breakfast" special at brunch. It's not on the menu yet (available again last weekend) but you can ask for it. Two eggs your way, two tortillas, rice & beans and fried yucca topped with a house made salsa. Chorizo can be yours for $2. With any hope this is a permanent addition to the brunch menu.

Last week in the middle of recording the first 6 nights of the Doomtree Blowout I realized that it might be best to camp out Downtown for a few nights instead of running back and forth to South. All of the sudden I figured it might a good idea to eat Andrea Pizza for 3 days in a row. I was right, it was a damn good idea. True New York style, 18" with 8 gigantic slices that will last one person for several meals. Some of the best pizza I've had in years.

Party Like a Young Commie Tonight At The Triple Rock.

Big Quarters - Party Like A Young Commie CD Release Party
Friday, December 16
Triple Rock Social Club
Minneapolis, MN

Big Quarters
w/ Los Nativos and No Bird Sing

Hosted by: Crescent Moon of Kill the Vultures
On the decks: DJ Ren

9pm doors | 18+ | $8 advance $10 door

Pre-Order Album.

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Perish This Thursday (12/15)

Perish:
Comets Ov Cupid
Take Acre

Kitty Cat Klub
10pm. 12/15.
Free. Kitty Cat Klub. 10pm.

"Comets Ov Cupid is the solo project of Jason Kesselring, former guitarist and leader of the turn-of-the-millennium era local group Skye Klad. Upon moving on from his post-Skye Klad trio Blitzen as well as moving on from the Twin Cities and back to his ancestral home of Fargo, Jason has been putting his enviable guitar skills to use as Comets Ov Cupid, spanning a wide range of stylistic influences but always remaining within his chosen field of a uniquely modern and occultic Kosmische Musik for our times. Since his music is solitary in nature, Jason's live appearances have been rare and usually purpose-specific. For the Perish performance, Jason's cosmic guitar will be supported in a "rock trio" with Matt Entsminger of Thunderbolt Pagoda on drums and former Skye Klad bandmate Erik Wivinus (also of Thunderbolt Pagoda) on bass. They will be performing a lengthy instrumental suite composed specifically for this event."

Wednesday, December 07, 2011

An Update From Downtown.

I had intended on posting 1 track per night from the opening sets of The Blowout but I haven't been home in two days which makes it difficult to keep up with that goal. Scratch that, I did run over South on my lunch hour to shower and change clothes but was in and out in 30 minutes.

Tonight was curated by Stef and will feature sets from Marijuana Deathsquads and Polica. It feels like Friday. I haven't drank coffee in the PM in a minute but it's pretty satisfying at the moment.

Monday, December 05, 2011

Friday, December 02, 2011

No Tapes.

The Captain got a hold of me yesterday to ask if I would record the Marijuana Deathsquads set at the Big Freedia show last night. As much I hate letting him down I really didn't feel like messing with the 21 to the Turf. Wasn't in the mood for that at all but now I'm disappointed that the MDS set wasn't recorded.

Instead I went to Cause because it's close to the house and Falcon Arrow & Cadette never let me down. I was also very glad to catch Hey, Remember Nostalgia for the first time. Didn't feel like schlepping gear 8 blocks in 20° weather so that show also went unrecorded.

/pointless update.

Thursday, December 01, 2011

12/01/11.

Well, the show I wanted to attend this evening is no longer going down so that opens the options back up. I sincerely wish Blood Folke's drummer Bryan a speedy recovery from his emergency appendectomy. I'm looking forward to the rescheduled date of their CD Release and hope they can keep the same support (The Funeral and the Twilight and Prostate).

The big attraction tonight will be Big Freedia & The Divas @ The Turf Club w/ Marijuana Deathsquads, Spyder Baybie Raw Dog 3k & 2% Muck and Plain Ole Bill. 8pm doors, 9pm music, $12 cover.


As much as things are sure to be hoppin' in the Midway I'm thinking about keeping things walking distance from the house and checking out the show at Cause. Haven't been there in forever. Falcon Arrow and Cadette are two of my favorite bands in town. I've yet to see Hey, Remember Nostalgia but some of the members are also in Paragraphs who are another top notch band from Minneapolis. From the Facespace...

Falcon Arrow are a bass & drums duo. 12am.
Hey, Remember Nostalgia are a five-piece pop band with a girl singer. 11pm.
Cadette are a rock trio of ladies. 10pm.


Calendar Update.

The calendar on the right side of this page has been updated. December just got thick.