Check out this video from Cold Specks, a 23 year-old Canadian girl by the name of Al Spx, who recently signed to Arts and Crafts.  They also happen to be the ones who brought you Stowe Provisions' favorites Timber Timbre, amongst many others.  They just released her first two tracks a couple days ago, which you can buy here.   Enjoy, love Howie Read More »

Ice Cube digs the Eames   Read More »

Read More »

Three years ago teenager Nika Roza Danilova arrived upon the fringes of the pop-music world with a voice as big as her 4'11" frame is small, and a sound as exotic as her Wisconsin home seems Rockwellian. Clear from the beginning was that this young, dimunitive, mid-westerner is an unmistakeable force to be reckoned with. At first encounter Ms. Danilova's Zola Jesus moniker alone carves out a place of iconoclasm and mythology in the pantheon of rock 'n roll history. Sonically, she matches that initial impression with a 21st century goth-electronic sound full of operatic drama, soaring vocals, and dissonance... Read More »

Here is a cool video surprisingly brought to you by Chipotle, with Willie Nelson covering Coldplay. Read More »

I had the pleasure of witnessing the final performance of Forklift Danceworks', The Trash Project this weekend. The Trash Project was a choreographed dance of 16 municipal Solid Waste Services trucks, 30 Solid Waste Services employees, and a three-piece band, performed before 2,000 people on an abandoned airstrip in the triple-digit heat of an Austin dusk. Forklift Danceworks' Choreographer, Allison Orr clearly set out to challenge the viewers' perceptions of: dance as a medium, public art, community, consumerism and waste generation, and the Solid Waste Services employees and machinery who constitute the entire cast of performers. What's as, if not.. Read More »

A new Tom Waits album is on the way, set to be released Oct. 25. You can watch a video of Tom and his private listening party that is unfortunately spoiled by us. p.s. I like his orange wall. Read More »

Here is a video from the show Don't Move Here filmed in Portland, OR. This episode takes you inside the house of Isaac Brock, the frontman for Modest Mouse. He gives you a tour of his house, talks taxidermy and home renovations, and plays a little music for you as well. Enjoy. love, Howie Read More »

Stowe and I just returned from a trip to Memphis. I was lucky enough to visit Sun Studio while I was in town. It was opened in 1950 by Sam Phillips and recorded legends such as Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley, Roy Orbison, Carl Perkins, B.B. King, Howlin' Wolf and many others. Here are some pics for you. love, Howie Read More »

Today would have been Roy Orbison's 75th birthday. Unfortunately, he past in 1988. The man with the dark rimmed glasses had a distinctive and powerful voice. After growing up in Texas, he was signed by Sun Records in Memphis in 1956. Coincidentally, I am heading to Memphis with Stowe in May and can't wait to tour Sun Records. Here is a video for you: Roy from The Roy Orbison Show in 1964 performing Crying. enjoy.  love, Howie Read More »

Indie rock's King of obtuse wordsmiths, Dan Bejar, has now been doing business as Destroyer for quite awhile and I was just beginning to think i could put a finger on what i love about him. However, Destroyer's ninth record, Kaputt, has left me equally awed and tongue-tied. I'll start off by saying that since i've known who Dan Bejar was I've always loved Destroyer AND wanted a really tough-looking black cat with the same name. Of course I want said cat to be a cuddler and generally laid-back bookstore type of cat, in clear contrast to the cat's appearance... Read More »

It's difficult not to compare Debra Granik's film, Winter's Bone, to The Coen Brothers', True Grit. The two films share so many similarities with each other and so few with any other recent films. Both are set in the foreboding environs of winter in the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas, and both feature a teenage girl on a determined hunt for a very bad man. True Grit was a great movie by one of today's best directing teams, but if you're looking for the best story of a teenage girl exhibiting determination and grit in the face of hardships presented by.. Read More »

It is great to see Red Wing Shoes still producing their quality leather goods in down in Red Wing in our home state of Minnesota. My Red Wings are about to head into the closet for the summer, but they will serve me well again before I know it. Read More »

Yes, it is almost spring. But the arrival of SXSW has caused us to look back at the best music from last year. TOP TWENTY ALBUMS I HEARD 1. Doug Burr - O Ye Devastator Gorgeous and meticulously crafted bedroom pop from mini music-mecca, Denton, TX. A voice as fine as cashmere, stories as well crafted as a Lahiri short, and equally as emotionally evocative sonic craftsmanship, all tempered with exceptional restraint and control. 2. Beach House - Teen Dream Baltimore dream pop delivers androgynous bliss through a disaffected haze. The accompanying videos are very much worth watching. 3. Horse.. Read More »

2011 has already seen releases by mainstream mainstays from total opposite ends of the pop-spectrum, Radiohead and Britney Spears, that exhibit dubstep beats and characteristics, so I feel like it's time to talk about a fledgling genre learning to fly. I'll start with a disclaimer.... I'm no expert, or even, in most cases, a fan of electronic dance music. I approached the genre in the last few years from the alternate angle of a fan of ambient/experimental noise. In it's early iterations, DJ's and producers' experimentations with bass frequencies and beat echos laid the groundwork for a dark, new, mostly-instrumental.. Read More »

For those of us, including myself, that aren't in Austin for SXSW right now, here is a little Jack White performing on the street corner in my old town. Enjoy. love, Howie Read More »

Congrats to Bert Blyleven!  The former Minnesota Twin and member of the 1987 World Series Champions (a high point in the childhood of Stowe and myself, growing up in Minneapolis) is now a member of baseball's Hall of Fame after 14 years!  Maybe it is time to let the facial hair grow long and make a trip to Cooperstown this summer.            Love, Howie Read More »

If you are going to have Christmas carols this year, then they should have David Bowie and Bing Crosby in them. I like how he just stops by and they chat for a bit first. love, Howie Bing Crosby & David Bowie - Duet Read More »

While Breathe Owl, Breathe's new album Magic Central will more than likely occupy a spot in my "Best Albums of 2010" list that is soon to come, their press photo is the best EVER. love, Stowe Read More »

If you've read any of these other posts you already know I love to contextualize the music experience. Where I was, what I was doing the first time a record grabbed me, the artist's backstory and who collaborated on a record all contribute to my appreciation (or dislike) of a record or performance. Obviously I'm no purist. Case in point, Neil Young's new album Le Noise is a great record who's greatness grows the more I think about it. Neil's now in his mid-sixties, his place in the history of rock 'n roll firmly entrenched. It'd be easy, even reasonable,.. Read More »