The two brothers on stage--Medium Zach and Brandon, formally known as EPL--have been grindin' in the scene for four years now, almost undercover and unknown to many. But the few who do know about them have seen their raw, energizing shows; most times, they out-perform the headlining acts. The talented duo are also wizards on the beat-making tip, with creative, gritty beats that sound refreshing com
pared to the overproduced hip-pop beats that dominate the rap airwaves today. Expect the hardworking group to be out-performing plenty of shows this year. Make sure you catch one--and make sure you yell, "Fuck the police."
Related Content
More About
Halloween, Alaska (tie)
WHAT THE VOTERS SAY: As much as I hate to admit it, I love The O.C. But not for the fistfights or the hot bodies or the hyperdramatic lives of high schoolers who never seem to go to high school. Oh no, what I tell myself--and I'm sure dreamy indie rock geek Seth Cohen would agree--is that the show is nothing without the music. So when the first episode of the new season built its climax around local supergroup Halloween, Alaska's "All the Arms Around You," I was floored. It was perfect: In one of their typically mellow songs, the guitar intensified as runaway Seth sat on a patio contemplating his future. The drums ticked off
the agonizingly long seconds. And when he finally made his decision about what he was going to do, the scene was washed with soothing electronic tones. Who knew television producers were smart enough to mate a kid's newfound maturity with the sound of a grown-up Postal Service? "It'll fall just like you said," sang James Diers, and he was right. We all knew what would happen to Seth. But Halloween, Alaska made it worth watching.
Lindsey Thomas
Missing Numbers (18)
WHAT THE VOTERS SAY: Jimmy Peterson is one of this town's unheralded talents, a top-shelf writer and musician whose unassuming presence and casual attitude toward the biz only reinforce the depth and ingenuity of his work. Best known as songwriting foil to Eric Luoma in the beautifully stoic Bellwether, Jimmy has also lent his deft musical skills to recent recordings by Ben Weaver and Mark Stockert.
While many of his previous collaborations have had a rootsy Americana flavor, there have always been more experimental instincts bubbling under Jimmy's work. His new band Missing Numbers operates outside of traditional genre games, fast-forwarding roots influences into an idiosyncratic but resonant modern context. Kicking out diamond-hard mid-tempo space-blues that crackles with trip-hop loops and freaked-out fuzz guitar, Missing Numbers evoke strange but intriguing descriptions: Howling Wolf fronting the Bad Seeds, or King Tubby remixing the Faces with J. Mascis on lead guitar. This is modern electric blues for a grimy urban reality--broken yet beautiful, bummed but proud.
The Belles of Skin City (17)
WHAT THE VOTERS SAY: Years ago a very liberal friend told me that in his mind, the advantage of Republican presidents is that they inspire frustrated musicians to create great music. I waited and waited for this idea to come to fruition, and was just about to call him to tell him he was wrong when, on a fateful Sunday night in June, opening up for the Heroine Sheiks at Grumpy's, I saw the Belles of Skin City play their first live show. A new band in 2004, but with members quite familiar to the local music scene, this ridiculously talented five-piece creates music too interesting and unique to easily explain in words. The postmodern sound includes a little vaudeville, a bit of a fire-and-brimstone street preacher sound, and a dose of punk. Mix in a little Moog, and you have the Belles of Skin City. Talent this strong should not go unheard. If my friend's theory is correct, the next four years should be golden for this band.
Traditional methods (16)
WHAT THE VOTERS SAY: After getting a heavy dose of Heiruspecs and Guardians of Balance over this past year, I finally woke up: St. Paul got skillz, yo! My overdue hip-hop awakenings aside, the Twin Cities scene continues to produce evolving, dynamic flows and beats. This year, my most lucid moment of that realization came, not at the dynamite Twin Cities Hip Hop Festival, but when I was rolling down East Lake Street in my, uh, rusted-out Geo Prizm, and Radio K played a Traditional Methods track. Damn. Had to catch them at First Avenue that very night. A funk-filled live hip-hop band, Traditional Methods began as a side project of Kanser and now deserve a few headlining gigs of their own. New MC never sounded so fresh, and Sarah White reminds us of the many mighty female MCs finally getting their own due respect around here.
THANKS TO ALL OF THE VOTERS:A.K., Ed Ackerson, Eric Anderson, Eric Billiet and the staff of the Garage, Jon Bream, Scott Brown, David Campbell, Tim Campbell, Keri Carlson, Cecile Cloutier, Marisa Collins, Zachariah Combs (a.k.a. New MC), Daniel Corrigan, Dan Cote, Mandy Cox, Ben Crew, David de Young, Mark Desrosiers, Martin Devaney, Dolores Dewberry, Chris Dorn, Ben Durrant, JG Everest, Erik Funk, Kate Galloway, staff of Ginkgo Coffeehouse, Oren Goldberg, Sonia Grover, Tom Hallett, Steven Heckler, Tom Herbers, Dylan Hicks, Mark Holland, Kenny Horst, Rich Horton, Brandon Howie, Derek Johnson, Diana Kim, Kim King, Kandis Knight, Leo Kuelbs, Lars J. Larson, Tom Loftus, Melissa Maerz, Philip Mann, Steve Marsh, James "Taco" Martin, Rich Mattson, Aaron Money, Keith Moran, Jason Nagel, Jeremy O'Kasick, Ryan O'Rourke, Jason Orris, Nick Oz, Jason Parker, Nate Perbix, Ross Raihala, Chris Riemenschneider, Chris Roberts, Nathan Roise, Reggie Royston (a.k.a. Bruno Zaire), David J. Russ, David Safar, Rodrigo Sanchez-Chavarria, Anne Saxton, Matt Schmidt, Christina Schmitt, Peter S. Scholtes, Kate Silver, Clint Simonson, Rod Smith, Rex Sorgatz, Jack Sparks, Chuck Statler, Matthew St-Germain, Chris Strouth, Eric Swanson, Chuck Terhark, Lindsey Thomas, Richard Thomas, Rob van Alstyne, Andrew Volna, Karrie Vrabel, Jacques Wait, Jim Walsh, Patrick Whalen, Gretchen Williams, Mike Wisti, Toki Wright, Jason Wussow.
