SEX & DRUGS & ROCK & ROLL >>

• BEST ACOUSTIC PERFORMER
  Curtis & Loretta are as good an argument as any for the preservation of a space within the current acoustic scene for, you know, folk music. Not that there's anything wrong with coffeehouse singer-handwringers or collegiate rockers with mandolins. And not that space shouldn't also be made... More >>
• BEST ADULT VIDEO STORE
  SexWorld is still the multilevel adult-entertainment giant in the Twin Cities, offering everything from naughty cakes to plastic wind-up toys with unexpected, and sometimes appalling, surprises. Their rental selection is enormous and meticulously organized, as befits such a giant, and offers up... More >>
• BEST ALBUM OF THE PAST 12 MONTHS
  There are plenty of bands who have listened to just as many obscure British new-wave records as Valet singer Robin Kyle, but they lack his unforgettable melodic phrasing. You really can't teach or imitate these things, any more than you can explain why such dead-on-paper Valet choruses as "I... More >>
• BEST ALL-AGES VENUE
  Who would think that finding places to host shows for underage kids would be so difficult? With the end of live gigs at St. Paul's Eclipse Records and Bon Appétit in Dinkytown, this song is getting really tired. That's especially true for the crew that used to run the Bombshelter, the... More >>
• BEST BAND NAME
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• BEST BAND TO BREAK UP IN THE PAST 12 MONTHS
  Though they had the career lifespan of a suicidal fruit fly, Cenospecies made one cool album before dying. For those who heard it, Indefinition (Peak Records) contains one of the most exciting moments in local recorded music circa 2001: Halfway through the largely a cappella "Hip Hop," the... More >>
• BEST BAND TO LEAVE THE TWIN CITIES IN THE PAST 12 MONTHS
  It just doesn't seem fair that Tulip Sweet's Steph Dickson is now singing "'Scuze me for livin' and pukin' up beans on the grass!" in some dive bar in Brooklyn. I mean, come on! They don't even have grass in New York City! (Except, of course, for that crazy, smoky kind.) In any case, we'll miss... More >>
• BEST BARTENDER
  His name is Corky, fer cryin' out loud, and that really should say it all. But in case it doesn't, let us point out that he needs no bartender guide to make, say, a rob roy or a Gibson. And if he ever learns your name, rest assured Corky will never forget it. Besides, he says he has a true love... More >>
• BEST BEER SELECTION IN A BAR
  Sometimes you just have to give Goliath his due. Sure, David had moxie. But there's something to be said for unabashed bigness. That's why we drive SUVs that should have their own congressmen, and shop in grocery stores where you need a GPS to find the produce aisle. According to quantitative... More >>
• BEST BLOODY MARY
  The bloody mary is a drink of solace--whether you're recovering from a simple hangover or a ruined life. It's the perfect prop for The Royal Tenenbaums' Richie Tenenbaum, the emotionally fragile former tennis prodigy (played by Luke Wilson) who is obsessively in love with his own sister. Richie... More >>
• BEST BLUES BAND
  Over the years, guitarist Curt Obeda has exemplified the axiom that when it comes to the blues, if you can retain your passion and enough of your health, the older you get, the better you play. Reared in Chicago, Obeda started out aping the West Side and South Side styles of Windy City blues... More >>
• BEST BLUES BAR
  Yes, we know it's a rib chain located in a mall. We also know that since the demise of Frogtown's Blues Saloon, there has been no better place in the Twin Cities to consistently catch high-profile national blues acts, along with the cream of the local blues crop. Last March, for example, Eddie... More >>
• BEST CASINO
  The Mille Lacs band of Ojibwe know their customers. They run two highly successful casinos, sucking in neighbors, cabin-goers, and out-of-state vacationers with just the right mix of slot machines, buffets, and special events (which recently included a kickboxing tournament)--all housed in a... More >>
• BEST CLUB DJ
  Utter his name around 17-year-old raver chicks and watch them beam brighter than their glowsticks. This frenzied, bleach-blond bombshell really only detonated amid the congested clique of Minneapolis club DJs a year ago. But he's almost instantly turned the city's head. And while some of the... More >>
• BEST COCKTAILS
  Sad to say, far too many people these days confuse the profession of mixology with the profession of interior decoration. Interior decorators have their place, certainly, but that place is not behind a bar, creating color-coordinated, fruit-festooned concoctions. Call us old-fashioned (hah!)... More >>
• BEST CONCERT OF THE PAST 12 MONTHS
  The space is a sunlit, warehouse-size indoor skateboard park. Half-pints are riding the half-pipes as a shaved-headed Felix Havoc surveys the room. He's standing ten feet from the floor on a stage he helped build. In front of him are about 550 punks and other fans of hardcore and thrash, many... More >>
• BEST CONCERT VENUE
  Even concertgoers have to make sacrifices. Every week, for instance, tinnitus-afflicted folks wait in a long line just to schlep through ye olde slime-coated, live-crud-harvesting vomitorium--otherwise known by its common name: the 7th St. Entry bathroom. Now that's devotion. What else can you... More >>
• BEST COUNTRY-MUSIC SHOW
  Sunday nights at the Hexagon are a throwback to the halcyon hours of country music in the Twin Cities. Back in the day, the Flame Bar and Café on Nicollet Avenue was a national destination for big-time country stars: Hank Snow and Roy Acuff were among the country luminaries who took the... More >>
• BEST DANCE CLUB
  Those who would dispute this choice have likely not visited the Quest on a Saturday night for Sound in Motion's 18+ electronica extravaganza "Plush." Yet even prior to this ultra-successful night's kickoff in January, the club had smartly recognized the need for high-quality dance-music events... More >>
• BEST ELECTRONIC MUSICIAN
  Despite his unpretentious nature, electronica producer (not DJ, mind you) Paul Birken says he has a lot planned for this next year. "Minneapolis WILL be on the map," a confident Birken says, having recently been signed to the Dustraxx artist booking roster and anticipating the release of a full... More >>
• BEST GAY BAR
  Trikkx is to the Gay 90's as the Turf Club is to First Avenue--more neighborhood bar than a see-and-be scene, more relaxed, more St. Paul. Never mind that the name promises cruising: The two warehouse-size, windowless rooms have a low-key, social atmosphere that recalls the mom-and-pop (make... More >>
• BEST HAPPY HOUR
  If it's happy hour all the time, can you ever achieve true happiness? That's the kind of philosophical riddle that begins to run through your mind after spending one too many happy hours perched on a bar stool at the venerable Poodle Club. There is no shortage of watering holes around town... More >>
• BEST HIP-HOP ARTIST
  Minneapolis hip-hop duo the C.O.R.E. spend a lot of time making things. On the last Friday of every month, they make a concert hall out of the Circle of Discipline, a boxing gym on East Lake Street. For this event, they make room on the bill for popular out-of-towners (Chicago's Typical Cats)... More >>
• BEST HIP-HOP DJ
  While it may have been more predictable to let DJ Abilities (the turntable phenom of Atmosphere fame) rule this category, Andrew Broder (a.k.a. DJ Andrew, a.k.a. Fog) stakes a strong claim to the title this year. Broder's signing to influential Ninja Tune Records--also home to mind-blowing... More >>
• BEST JAZZ ARTIST
  A few days after New York Time jazz critic Ben Ratliff put the Bad Plus's self-titled debut CD on his year-end list of critic's picks (other honorees included pianists Jason Moran and Keith Jarrett), the obscure, upstart trio showed up for a two-night stint at St. Paul's Dakota Bar & Grill.... More >>
• BEST JAZZ CLUB
  Lowell Pickett's little-club-that-cooks is becoming a perennial in these pages, but not for lack of worthy competition. The Artists' Quarter's new, must-see basement space in downtown St. Paul is as spacious as it is swinging--an aesthetic gem that consistently showcases local and national... More >>
• BEST JUKEBOX
  Back in the late Eighties, a cultural divide was bridged when metal fans who listened obsessively to Metallica and albums like Slayer's Reign in Blood were coerced into putting N.W.A.'s Straight Outta Compton into the tape deck. This landmark event prompted an eye-opening exposure to rap, a... More >>
• BEST KARAOKE
  Drunken singing. Collective nostalgia. No, we're not talking about Kieran's Irish Pub on St. Patrick's Day, but rather Tubby's in northeast Minneapolis on Wednesday nights. Punk rockers find their own kind and their own voices at this unique weekly event hosted by man about town Ian Rans.... More >>
• BEST LESBIAN BAR
  Ask any Twin Cities lesbian where the nearest dyke bar is, and she will probably pinch you in the arm as if responding to a bad joke. The punch line, she will say, is that there are no lesbian-specific bars here. Which is true, if perhaps misleading, what with Bryant-Lake Bowl and Café... More >>
• BEST LOCAL MUSIC COMPILATION
  Some of Minnesota's all-time greatest records are compilations, starting with 1968's The Big Hits of Mid-America. Yet "various artists" packages have since diminished in influence as Mid-America artists have become ever more various. Each new local free-for-all seems to lose in cohesiveness... More >>
• BEST LOCAL RECORD LABEL
  After throwing two successful parties ("Solus" and "Ghost Planet") in 1998 under the name Solus Productions, electronica producers Scott Radke and Dave Olson began HiPass Music out of their own pockets (and out of Radke's home in northeast Minneapolis). The ten-record roster of "weird, dark... More >>
• BEST MARGARITA
  As you slide into a booth in the bar area--under the industrial ranch décor of barbed-wire wreaths and lasso light fixtures--you may be momentarily overwhelmed by the two dozen margarita choices on the menu. You could try the tart "Baja Breeze," a concoction of tequila, triple sec,... More >>
• BEST NEIGHBORHOOD BAR (MINNEAPOLIS)
  Okay, choosing the C.C. Club as Minneapolis's best neighborhood bar may seem a woefully obvious pick. But the fact is, it's as good a choice as ever. Ground zero for the Eighties' local punk scene, as well as the counterculture watering hole of the Uptown area, this local landmark now has the... More >>
• BEST NEIGHBORHOOD BAR (ST. PAUL)
  A bar has occupied the northeast corner of Randolph and Victoria streets since 1885, and it's safe to say little but the name has changed in those 117 years. Then it was Wittmer's Saloon and Tobacco Shop; now it's the Spot. Michael O'Toole, the current proprietor, took over with a fellow... More >>
• BEST NEW BAND
  Long live the Twin Cities music scene! And I do mean scene. Judging by the cult following of fashionistas that frequent the Hundred Flowers' shows, the band's performances are as much about manipulating visual delights as aural ones. Still, if a band that plays as well as the Hundred Flowers... More >>
• BEST OLD BAND
  When this storied trio reunited last January for a surprise performance (their first since 1994) at First Avenue's annual staff party, over-30s gaped with reverent nostalgia. Under-30s and recent immigrants to the local scene paid attention to the band's three-directional experimental... More >>
• BEST OPEN-MIC NIGHT
  In this town, even the Irish pubs host open mics. But if you're serious about your slam, head to the Cultural Center of Minnesota, where you can find experienced hosts and an audience that understands the art. Twin Cities spoken-word/music ensemble Edu-Poetic Enterbrainment--formerly the... More >>
• BEST PLACE TO PLAY POOL
  Not only the top spot for stick in the Twin Cities, this impeccably kept, family-friendly establishment is one of the finest billiard parlors in the country; just ask the experts at Billiards Digest and Pool & Billiard magazine, who have both given Billiard Street Café props. Start... More >>
• BEST POP BAND
  Though they've garnered their fair share of laudatory ink, Brian Tester and Amanda Warner get less respect around these parts than they deserve. When Billboard called a few local record stores to gather background on the electro-pop duo, one clerk told the reporter he thought they had broken... More >>
• BEST PRODUCER
  There are more recording studios in town right now than there are rock clubs. And the work of Twin Cities producers is louder in the mass culture than is any local musician--Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis (Janet Jackson) and John "Strawberry" Fields (Andrew W.K.) being the most obvious examples. Yet... More >>
• BEST R&B BAND
  Like hip-hop purists, jazz players tend to chafe at the description of themselves as "R&B," and for similar reasons. R&B means soft, commercial, girlie-chicks-and-kids-dig-it; it doesn't usually refer to real musicians. So the members of Moveable Feast might already be writing... More >>
• BEST RECORDING STUDIO
  The twin towns have their share of world-class studios, from Prince's Paisley Park to Pachyderm in Cannon Falls. But those are playgrounds for the not-yet-rich-but-sure-to-be-famous, with rates that, more often than not, can only be paid by the major labels. Luckily there's the Terrarium, which... More >>
• BEST ROCK BAND
  Hardcore-inspired punk rock with synthesizers or organs as frosting may be nothing new. But no synth-punk band since Lifter Puller has worked the concept with as much pure, sweaty, manic live energy as Song of Zarathustra. How fitting, then, that the group recruited former Lifter Puller... More >>
• BEST ROCK CLUB
  You know that a musician-frequented club is a good one. On any given night down in the Turf Club's Clown Lounge, one can find drummer JT Bates cracking a beer, Exercise's Preston Olson cracking a joke, or any number of riled-up local drummers looking as if they might want to crack some heads.... More >>
• BEST SONGWRITER
  Upon first, second, and fourth listen to Sean Na Na's My Majesty, you're struck by the fullness of sound. Finally, a backup band worthy of Sean Tillman's writing, a fleet but heavy collective of local stalwarts to replace his skeletal, semi-acoustic shuffle. But on that crucial third listen,... More >>
• BEST STRIP CLUB (1 Comment)
  The Skyway Lounge might very well be downtown Minneapolis's last remaining heckhole, and as such, one of its greatest treasures. For one thing, there's something about the place's exterior--the doorman maybe, or the vaguely seedy location next to a bus stop and an abandoned movie... More >>
• BEST VOCALIST (FEMALE)
  The "best vocalist" category is always a suspect one, particularly when it comes to women. "Good" singing has less to do with great pop pipes than some people pretend. In fact, one of the biggest musical breakthroughs of the past half-century has been the move away from traditional ideas of... More >>
• BEST VOCALIST (MALE)
  Robinson has the girth and the pipes to justify his boast that he's the "Pavarotti of Gospel." This round mound of enormous sound has been awarded such a gorgeous gift from God that it's no wonder he's so devout. As director of the Twin Cities Community Gospel Choir, Robinson can make song... More >>
• BEST WINE BAR
  What makes a good wine bar, anyway? Well, the wine, of course. It doesn't matter how friendly the servers, how inviting the room--if there isn't some exciting, interesting wine at the end of the journey, why bother? Absurdly, that criterion actually knocks out most of our stand-alone wine bars... More >>
• SECOND-BEST BAND NAME
  ...because, in our nasty little hearts, we all secretly wish the worst for them. More >>
• THIRD-BEST BAND NAME
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