Tonight: Cloud Cult at First Avenue

*MP3: Cloud Cult - "Everybody Here Is A Cloud"

Cloud Cult is playing at First Avenue tonight. However, this bad boy is sold out. If you don't have tickets yet, call some friends.

(Ian Anderson)

Cloud Cult Announce More Tour Dates, Play St. Olaf Today

4-May Monday Rapid City The Dahl Arts Center *
6-May Wednesday Missoula The Other Side *
7-May Thursday Spokane Blvd *
8-May Friday Seattle Neumos *
9-May Saturday Vancouver Media Club *
10-May Sunday Portland Wonder Ballroom *
12-May Tuesday San Francisco The Independent *
16-May Saturday tucson Plush *
17-May Sunday phoenix Rhythm Room *
19-May Tuesday denver Bluebird Theatre *
20-May Wednesday omaha Waiting Room *
24-Jul Friday Detroit Lakes, MN 10,000 Lakes Festival

These new dates, behind their upcoming DVD release Nobody Said It Would Be Easy, are an expansion of previously announced tour engagements.

Including the 10,000 Lakes festival date, the anthemic eco-rockers' local dates are: Today, at the St. Olaf College Nobel Peace Prize Forum (I wonder how many Repubs are going to protest this year? Oh, that's right, the last decade totally invalidated your ideology. BOOM, SUCKA!); March 22nd, at a sneak preview showing of the DVD at The Varsity Theater; April 16th at St. Cloud University; and, finally, May 2nd at First Ave.

So, plenty of opportunities to see the band, kids. I suggest you take one.

Cloud Cult MySpace Page

MFR Is Concerned About Gary Oldman

*MP3: Hold Steady - "Positive Jam"
*MP3: Hockey Night - "Grim Break"
*MP3: Interpol - "Heinrich Maneuver"
*MP3: Justin Timberlake - "Sexy Back"
*MP3: Cloud Cult - "Fairy Tale"
*MP3: Bon Iver - "Babys"
*MP3: Kanye West - "Stronger"
*MP3: Kings of Leon - "Knocked Up"
*MP3: Les Savy Fav - "What Would Wolves Do"
*MP3: Elliot Smith - "Needle In The Hay"
*MP3: Say Hi - "November Was White"
*MP3: Coconut Records - "West Coast"
*MP3: Animal Collective - "My Girls"
*MP3: The Strokes - "Trying Your Luck"
*MP3: Mates of State - "My Only Offer"

The other night, I saw The Unborn. It was bad, just like anyone would expect. However, there was one redeeming aspect of the movie. At about the one-hour mark, Gary Oldman (The Dark Knight, Batman Begins, Harry Potter, Fifth Element, JFK) appeared in the form of a liberal and free-thinking rabbi. I was absolutely pleasantly surprised; in fact, I gave my friend a wee silent cheer. Rarely there is a movie I can disagree with that features Mr. Oldman and his wonderful accent. But as the movie progressed, my mind began to wander. I began to question why Mr. Oldman would take on such a role with the knowledge that the movie would be complete crap; I am, of course, assuming that Oldman is near genius, if not a complete genius. I mean, just look at him and that mustache.

With that in mind, I think it's safe to say the Mr. Oldman took on this role merely for monetary gain, which I normally would fault an actually successful actor like Oldman for doing. But now, I'm thinking that his decision was more responsible, dare I say, economical. As you may have noticed, we are in the midst of a large-scale recession. A recession which I believed only influenced the meak, such as myself. It never dawned upon me that this recession could even take a bite out of the careers of popular actors. Well, to put it plainly, while something was happening in the movie that involved some near-dead zombie child, I was blowing my own mind with this economic riddle within a rhyme.

The fact of the matter is this: Gary Oldman is in trouble. Gary Oldman needs our help.

If I get 100 comments to this blog post, I will start garyoldmanneedsourhelp.com and will begin accepting donations on behalf of the Oldman estate.

In case gold old GO reads this, here's a mix to make him feel better.

Smooches.

Cloud Cult Announce Coachella Appearance, New DVD Screening

Taken directly from the latest Cloud Cult newsletter:

Cloud Cult will be showing a sneak peak of their upcoming DVD on Sunday March 22nd at The Varsity Theater in Minneapolis. Seating is very limited. The DVD will be available for the first time at this showing and will be available everywhere on April 21st.

Boldface is ours, obviously. Sneak peak tickets for the event can be bought here. A brief note: the band will not be performing at the DVD release, which premieres the film No One Said It Will Be Easy, a documentary about the band.

However, if you want to catch the band in concert, you have multiple opportunities to do so. Perhaps the biggest is the Coachella festival, as the band just announced that they would be playing there via their newsletter

Here are the rest of the band's upcoming dates:

March 6th - Northfield, MN - St. Olaf College (Nobel Peace Prize Forum)
March 8th - Miami, FL - Langerado Music Festival
March 22nd - DVD Sneak Peak Showing at The Varsity Theater (Mpls.)
March 27th - Madison, WI - The High Noon Saloon
March 28th - Des Moines, IA - Drake University (Earth Jam)
March 29th - Iowa City, IA - The Picador*
March 31st - Milwaukee, WI - Turner Hall Ballroom*+
April 1st - Chicago, IL - The Metro*+
April 2nd - Ann Arbor, MI - The Blind Pig*+
April 3rd Toronto*+
April 4th Montreal*+
April 6th - Northampton, MA - Pearl Street*+
April 7th - Boston, MA - Paradise Rock Club*+
April 8th - New Haven, CT - Toad's Place*+
April 9th - Brooklyn, NY - Music Hall of Williamsburg*+
April 10th - Philadelphia, PA - First Unitarian Church*+
April 11th - Washington, DC - Black Cat*+
April 12th - Pittsburgh, PA - Mr. Small's Theatre*+
April 13th - Cleveland, OH - Beachland Tavern*+
April 14th - Grand Rapids, MI - The Intersection*+
April 16th - St. Cloud, MN - St. Cloud State University
April 18th - Indio, CA - Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival
May 2nd - Minneapolis, MN - First Avenue Mainroom
*Dates with Ice Palace opening
+Co-headline dates with Margot & the Nuclear So and So'

Cloud Cult MySpace Page

Cloud Cult Seeks Fan Input For Upcoming Band Documentary

Download: Cloud Cult - "Living on the Outside of Your Skin"

Regardless of what you think about their music, there's no doubting the fact that Minneapols-based Cloud Cult have had a compelling career, one that's been marked by a unique sense of intertwining art and economics, strident environmentalism, and unspeakable tragedy.

Also, music. Lots and lots of music, specifically eight albums worth of cathartic anthems heavy on orchestral arrangements (long indie-fans started reading from the Neon Bible). Naturally, a story as compelling and wrought with drama as that one would serves as a great foundation for a documentary. Well, lucky for you Cloud Cult fans, the band happens to be putting together a film which will span the entirety of the band's career. In order to get a unique, fan-based perspective, the group is encouraging fans to come out to their studio this Sunday, Sept. 7th for an interview. The band's news letter explains in further detail:

If you're someone who has been touched by Cloud Cult's music and message, please consider contributing by stopping into the studio in downtown Minneapolis on Sunday, September 7th for a 15-20 minute interview...any personal stories or messages you'd like to send to the band are welcome. Many of you have profoundly unique experiences, and we'd like to hear them. If interested, please RSVP (ASAP) to the film's co-director, John Burgess at johnburgess@hotmail.com with "CLOUD CULT INTERVIEW" in the subject line. Please mention any time preferences you may have regarding your schedule this Sunday afternoon.

From there, Burgess will contact you with a time slot assignment and directions to the downtown Minneapolis location. All in all, the experience should take about 30 minutes. If you can't make it out, but still want to contribute your memories of the band, email johnburgess@hotmail.com by October 1st.

In other Cloud Cult news, the band is about to set off on a brief Fall jaunt which will take them mainly on the East Coast and in their beloved Mid-West. Here are the dates:

Thursday Sept. 11th - Denver, CO. Monolith Tree Planting at The Cerebral Paulsey Foundation 11am
Thursday Sept. 11th - Ft. Collins Aggie Theater
Friday Sept. 12th - Denver, CO. - Bluebird Theater Monolith Festival Kick-off
Thursday Sept. 25th - Minneapolis, MN. - Chambers Hotel The Metro 100 Party *Tickets available at metromag.com
Monday Nov. 10th - Washington, DC. - The Black Cat*
Tuesday Nov. 11th - NYC - The Bowery Ballroom*
Wednesday Nov. 12th - Danbury, CT. Heirloom Arts Theatre*
Thursday Nov. 13th - Boston, MA. Middle East Downstairs*
Friday Nov. 14th - Bethlehem, PA. Lehigh University
Saturday Nov. 15th - Cross your fingers Philadelphia
Monday Nov. 17th - University of Wisconsin @ Stout

*with Exit Clov and Mason Proper

Cloud Cult MySpace Page

(Jonathan Graef)

Video: Cloud Cult, "Story of the Grandson of Jesus", Live on "Last Call With Carson Daly" (6/19/08)

Now, I bet many of you are wondering: what will happen to the painting which was created during the taping of Cloud Cult's, who performed the song "Story of The Grandson of Jesus", from their latest release Feel Good Ghosts, "Last Call" performance? Well, worry no more, good sirs and ma'ams. The Minneapolis art-rock collective, recently profiled in the Wall Street Journal, who are known for playing live with video screens and live painters, explain all via their online newsletter:

(Cloud Cult) usually auctions off the paintings that are created during their shows after the show ends, but there was no way to do this at the Carson Daly Show The painting from that show will be auctioned off on ebay starting this Saturday. Just search ebay for Cloud Cult painting and you should find the auction. We'll also have a link posted on Cloud Cult and Cloud Cult MySpace Page. This is the first time the band has done an auction like this. The painting was created by Scott West.

In other Cloud Cult news, the group is set to play the Rock The Garden, along with Andrew Bird, The New Pornographers, and Bon Iver. Tickets to the show, a concert taking place at the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden, are sold out. The next opportunities for Cloud Cult fans to see their heroes in action will come twofold: first will be at the St. John's Center Block Party; the second will be at Denver's Monolith Festival, which is a music festival devoted to sustainability. Can't imagine why Cloud Cult would be interested in that.

Feel Good Ghosts is out now. Buy it here.

Cloud Cult MySpace Page

(Jonathan Graef)

Cloud Cult Profiled By The Wall Street Journal

(video via WSJ)

Here's the lede for the piece about MPLS art-rockers Cloud Cult.

A Cloud Cult concert doesn't end with the encore; it ends with a bidding war. After every performance by this rising Minneapolis rock band, fans vie in a silent auction for one-of-a-kind souvenirs from the show: pictures painted to the music by the group's two on-stage artists.
Cloud Cult offers a unique pairing of music with live painters onstage. And proceeds from the art help boost the group's bottom line.

When the drums kicked in at a recent concert in New York City, painter Connie Minowa swiped a streak of blue across a blank canvas. By the close of the group's stormy one-hour set, she'd completed a poster-sized painting marked by rippling shapes and dripping pigment. It sold minutes later for $1,000 -- about as much as the group typically gets paid to perform.

Read the article here. In sum, the piece, written by WSJ's John Jurgensen, contemplates Cloud Cult's unorthodox contracts and methods as an innovative business strategy, with emphasis on how artists will creatively navigate around the tough times in the music industry, and the economy in general. Worth a read.

(Jonathan Graef)

New Video: Cloud Cult - "Everybody Here Is A Cloud"

This video, for a track from the environmentally-conscience group's eight album Feel Good Ghosts, is the one noteworthy for having hundreds of extras from the Twin Cities area. Try to see if you can recognize yourself. Also, if you were involved with the video, tell us what it was like making it in the comments section.

Feel Good Ghosts is out now.

Cloud Cult MySpace Page

(Jonathan Graef)

Pitchfork Also Murders Cloud Cult (Plus Tour Kicks Off Tonight)

Download: Cloud Cult - "When Water Comes to Life"
Download: Cloud Cult - "The Tornado Lessons"

I think I've figured it out. Somehow, Minnesotan-based bands must have conspired to murder Ryan Schrieber's family in its entirety, and now he's seeking revenge through his website, the indie institution Pitchfork Media. After Minnesotans Tapes N Tapes got a 5.9 for their sophomore effort. But it would seem that the true carnage was being saved for fellow Minnesotans, the environmental collective Cloud Cult, who today received a 4.2 for their eight album, Feel Good Ghosts, released earlier this week.

Reviewer Ian Cohen says that "good intentions can only go so far and Feel Good Ghosts repeatedly fails to meet the listener halfway; Minowa hasn't run out of things to say, but he's having trouble coming up with new ways to say them, and Feel Good Ghosts unfortunately feels like another byproduct of Cloud Cult's recycling process."

Zing! Also, Ouch! For those of you who want to make up your own minds, head on over to Twin Cities where you can stream snippets of the entire record here.

In other Cloud Cult news, the band kicks off its tour behind its eighth release tonight in Madison, Wisconsin. Here are the dates (including two in Chicago!):

Apr 11 2008
8:00P
High Noon Saloon
Madison, Wisconsin

Apr 12 2008
8:00P
Radio Radio - w/ The Forms
Indianapolis, Indiana

Apr 13 2008
8:00P
Blind Pig w/ The Forms and Mason Proper
Ann Arbor, Michigan

Apr 14 2008
8:00P
El Mocambo
Toronto, Ontario

Apr 16 2008
8:00P
Middle East - Downstairs
Cambridge, Massachusetts

Apr 17 2008
8:00P
Music Hall of Williamsburg
Brooklyn, New York

Apr 18 2008
8:00P
The Bowery Ballroom
New York, New York

Apr 19 2008
8:00P
Rock and Roll Hotel
Washington DC

Apr 21 2008
8:00P
Local 506
Chapel Hill, North Carolina

Apr 22 2008
8:00P
Smith’s Olde Bar w/ The Forms
Atlanta, Georgia

Apr 24 2008
8:00P
The Basement
Columbus, Ohio

Apr 25 2008
7:00P
Schuba’s Tavern
Chicago, Illinois

Apr 25 2008
10:00P
Schuba’s Tavern
Chicago, Illinois

Apr 26 2008
8:00P
First Avenue
Minneapolis, Minnesota


May 6 2008
7:00P
The Elks Theater
Rapid City, South Dakota

May 7 2008
8:00P
Filling Station - w/ Kid Dakota
Bozeman, Montana

May 8 2008
8:00P
The Loft - w/ Kid Dakota
Missoula, Montana

May 9 2008
8:00P
Neumos
Seattle, Washington

May 10 2008
8:00P
Doug Fir Lounge
Portland, Oregon

May 13 2008
8:00P
Bottom of the Hill
San Francisco, California

May 14 2008
8:00P
Knitting Factory
Hollywood, California

May 16 2008
8:00P
Belly Up, Aspen - w/ Kid Dakota
Aspen, Colorado

May 17 2008
8:00P
Larimer Lounge
Denver, Colorado

May 18 2008
8:00P
Larimer Lounge
Denver, Colorado

May 19 2008
8:00P
Slowdown w/ Kid Dakota
Omaha, Nebraska

Feel Good Ghosts is out now and can be ordered through the band's website.

Cloud Cult MySpace Page

(Jonathan Graef)

Live Performance: Cloud Cult at SXSW

Download: Cloud Cult - "When Water Comes to Life"
Download: Cloud Cult - "The Tornado Lessons" (via Tsuru Radio)

If you dear readers are anything like me, then your attitude regarding attending SXSW is that the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. And by "flesh", I of course mean "Necessary Monetary Funds". Luckily, for those of us po' folks head over heels in this country shit, The Current has been airing live broadcasts of various acts who are performing at this year's showcase. One of those acts is Minneapolis' very own Cloud Cult, who are on the precipice of releasing their eight album, Feel Good Ghosts (Tea-Partying Through Tornadoes), and, naturally, are playing the Austin circuit in order to promote it. If you want to hear the band perform three new songs from its upcoming record, in addition to a track from the group's previous album The Meaning of 8, then click here.

And while Feel Good Ghosts doesn't hit stores until April, those intrepid souls who want to get their mitts on it before everyone else can do so legally at the band's website. If you buy the album at the Cloud Cult store, you can either get a full-length album download, or have the physical copy of the album shipped to you. Not too bad. Listen to two Feel Good Ghosts tracks at the top of the post.

Feel Good Ghosts is available on April 8th.

Cloud Cult MySpace Page

(Jonathan Graef)

New Cloud Cult - "When Water Comes To Life"

Download: Cloud Cult - "When Water Comes to Life"

Minnesota-based Cloud Cult have a new album titled Feel Good Ghosts (Tea-Partying Through Tornadoes) and it is set to be released on April 8th of this year. For fans who need a taste sooner than that, Pitchfork shared the new track ‘When Water Comes to Life’ a few days ago via their Forkcast section.

In true Cloud Cult fashion, there’s never a dull moment as this track slowly changes and grows and takes the listener through a series of auditory ups and downs. The tempo and mood mutates from a quiet, peaceful place to something soaked with loud guitars and raucous drums. Craig Minowa’s trembling vocals paired with soaring ethereal instrumentals create a fusion of sound lying somewhere between Beethoven and Björk.

Cloud Cult have always had a pension for creating beautiful blends of the classical and modern, giving them a symphonic sound like an indie rock opera. This song seems to pick up right where 2007’s The Meaning of 8 left off, conveying a soft sound and a hard edge simultaneously, but perhaps sounding a bit more orchestral than electric. If "When Water Comes to Life" is any indication of things to come on their next release, listeners definitely have something to look forward to.

Cloud Cult will be playing First Avenue on Saturday, April 26.

Cloud Cult MySpace Page

(Tara Rogan)

Things to do this weekend

Tonight!
Cloud Cult @ the First Avenue Mainroom - 8pm, 18+

Download: Cloud Cult - "Take Your Medicine"
Download: Cloud Cult - "A Good God"

MySpace Page

Tomorrow!Built to Spill @ the First Avenue Mainroom - 6pm, 18+

Download: Built to Spill - "Car"

MySpace Page

(Ian Anderson)

Cloud Cult in New York Times and Brooklyn Vegan

Brooklyn Vegan and The New York Times covered the two Cloud Cult shows at the Mercury Lounge in New York today.

Read the Brookyln Vegan piece here.
Read the New York Times piece here.

(Ian Anderson)

Cloud Cult CD Release Party

Cloud Cult - "Take Your Medicine"

Howwastheshow.com ran a great review on the Cloud Cult CD Release Party last Friday (I missed it, I know, lame). Read the full piece here.

(Ian Anderson)

Cloud Cult - The Meaning of 8

Download: Cloud Cult - "Please Remain Calm"

Cloud Cult's new album The Meaning of 8 will be out April 10, and it will be awesome. Craig Minowa is one of those geniuses that you like to acknowledge publicly as a genius.

I've been hooked on Cloud Cult ever since his emotionally cathartic debut They Live on the Sun and have enjoyed watching their popularity grow over the last two years and I am certainly not dissappointed with The Meaning of 8, which will take the indie-music scene by storm. Plus, I saw their very first show at the Quest in 2003.

The songs are a bit more polished and a bit more deliberate, but they still have the ragged charm and lyrical prowess of Minowa's catalog of efforts.

Click here to stream most of the album or visit their MySpace page for more information. I will definitely be singing this album's praises in a full review the week of April 10, so stay tuned.

Oh, remember if you're in the Twin Cities, the CD Release Party for this bad boy will be on March 30 at the Varsity Theater.

(Ian Anderson)