Email Author Ian Traas

2010 Stories by Ian Traas

• The Hold Steady

  published December 29, 2010

  Meticulously detailed songs about addicts and liars have been Craig Finn's calling card since the Hold Steady first formed, but the slacker side... More >>

• The Twilight Hours

  published December 22, 2010

  On "Dreams," the opening track of the Twilight Hours' latest album, Stereo Night (it's hard to call it a "debut" when the members have... More >>

• Soul Asylum

  published December 8, 2010

  When the alternative wrecking ball (composed mostly of grunge, flannel, and teen angst) came to level the palace of hair metal and dance-pop that... More >>

• The Queers

  published December 8, 2010

  There's an air of seriousness around some punk-rock bands, groups that are born out of conviction or righteous political dissent, bent on... More >>

• Tricky

  published December 8, 2010

  As he was leaving Massive Attack to focus on his own material (namely, 1995's demon-expelling Maxinquaye), Tricky's music had a gray cloud... More >>

• Freelance Whales

  published December 1, 2010

  Freelance Whales have an air of goodwill hovering about them, a disarming sweetness that gives their brand of indie pop a mood-altering quality.... More >>

• Andrew Bird

  published December 1, 2010

  For an artist so revered by the indie community, Andrew Bird doesn't seem to care much about rock 'n' roll. His list of influences doesn't include... More >>

• Broken Bells

  published December 1, 2010

  If you're a follower of pop music, you know that Danger Mouse can't be left to his own devices—he gets into too much trouble. After the... More >>

• Atmosphere

  published November 24, 2010

  There's no denying the wealth of talented hip-hop purveyors here in the Twin Cities, but Atmosphere's status at the top of the food chain is... More >>

• Tame Impala

  published November 24, 2010

  If the sun-dappled stoner jams aren't coming from California, Australia sure seems like the next best breeding ground. Aussie psych-revivalists... More >>

• Two Door Cinema Club

  published October 27, 2010

  Two Door Cinema Club aren't the first band to combine sharp post-punk guitars with a disco backbeat and glistening pop melodies (they're not even... More >>

• Stars

  published October 27, 2010

  Stars have spent most of their time as a band exploring the million ways you can get your heart broken and then pieced back together again.... More >>

• Mumford & Sons

  published October 20, 2010

  Synthesizer backlash is in full effect. After almost a decade of robbing the cocaine-sprinkled plastic coffin of the '80s, the artifice of the... More >>

• Blonde Redhead

  published October 13, 2010

  Though Blonde Redhead enjoyed some commercial success with their 2007 release, 23, the band has always placed its emphasis on well-shaped... More >>

• Phantogram

  published October 13, 2010

  If it weren't for the rock-solid beats anchoring them, the songs from New York duo Phantogram would float away, buoyed on expanses of sweetly... More >>

• House legend Paul Johnson to play Record Room

  published Oct 15, 2010

  Every facet of popular music has legends, figures that shaped the landscape of a particular genre; rock has Jagger and Lennon, country has Williams and Cash, hip hop has Blow and KRS-1.  But, in ... More >>

• Social Distortion

  published October 6, 2010

  When Mike Ness started Social Distortion in 1979, it was one of the very first West Coast punk rock bands. Now, the term "punk rock" doesn't seem... More >>

• Sufjan Stevens

  published October 6, 2010

  If you're hoping that someday Sufjan Stevens will actually get back to the 50 States Project (where he set out to make a record dedicated to each... More >>

• Ra Ra Riot

  published September 29, 2010

  As a young band gunning for some exposure, it certainly wouldn't hurt to count the guys in Vampire Weekend as a few of your close friends. But of... More >>

• Film School/The Depreciation Guild

  published September 29, 2010

  For those keeping a running tally, you might find that the shoegaze genre has more students now than it did in the early '90s. Film School... More >>

• Jamie Lidell

  published September 29, 2010

  If you're only familiar with Jamie Lidell as a sexy soul crooner, you're in for a surprise.  True, he has a great voice, and when he started... More >>

• My Cousin Roy to bring the Wurst to TML

  published Oct 01, 2010

  Sausage-obsessed DJ My Cousin Roy, aka Roy Dank, has been super busy lately. Actually, it's kind of unfair to refer to him only as a DJ, since Roy juggles spinning records all over the world, throwing... More >>

• Broken Social Scene

  published September 22, 2010

  There's enough room in the increasingly splintered rock arena for musicians with overflowing ideas to go wherever their muse may take them,... More >>

• Klaxons

  published September 22, 2010

  Though nu-rave had the lifespan of a mayfly (even in sub-genre terms), it spawned a few bands that have enjoyed a longer shelf life than the... More >>

• The Thermals

  published September 22, 2010

  The Thermals often get saddled with the "punk" tag, but that's a bit of a misnomer. Sure, the band has plenty of buzzing, up-tempo anthems at... More >>