2011 in a nutshell

STNNNG flipped their van in a blizzard just days before a show with Mike Watt and survive with only a few bumps and bruises. Expect big things from them in 2012 including the much anticipated collaboration with FT(The Shadow Government). Before the year is done they will be doing a set of AC/DC covers at the Turf Club. If you want blood, you got it! STNNNG kicks off the new year with another great bill on January 7th at the Turf.

Vampire Hands got together for a rare show this past week with all 4 original members. Colin continues to live in Missoula and is working on a number of projects including American Trash band. Chris, Chris and Alex have been quite busy. Chris B. is playing with new bands Polica, Pony Trash (new band with Neil from Chambermaids and Nate of STNNNG) and continues to play out solo on occasion as Invisible Boy. Chris R. has been busy with his own solo project Robust Worlds and Alex is playing with The Chambermaids. The Chris's and Alex nabbed two talented ladies, Molly and Sara, for a new band called Heavy Deeds. Heads ain't ready for how good this band is already.

Daughters of the Sun released a pretty kick ass record earlier this year called Ghost With Chains, which pretty quickly became out of print. Fortunately we still have a couple copies available in the webstore. DOTS will be playing a rare Minneapolis show at the Hexagon Bar - Sunday, January 8 with Heavy Deeds. Word has it that they will be finishing their next masterpiece in January.

In addition to a number of the Twin Cities bands we already talked about, we wanted to mention some other newly formed top notch Twin Cities bands that we enjoy, Bombay Sweets (ex-Selby Tigers, ex-His Mischief) and Cloak Ox (ex-Fog). There's still something in the water around these parts and we want to continue to spread the good word.

Finally, it's been a hell of a year for Doomtree artist SIMS, starting off with the much anticipated and critically acclaimed album Bad Time Zoo. After touring the country several times over and as a mainstay at summer festivals like Soundset and Soundtown, SIMS brought it all back home with another hugely successful, end of year Doomtree Blowout. We were so pleased to be able to help out with Bad Time Zoo and can't wait to see what SIMS has up his sleeve for 2012.

Much thanks goes out to everyone we've worked with and who has helped us out at the label. We've got some exciting things already planned for the new year so stay tuned.

11/17/11 Update

Look, we know we're a few months behind on the news updates. Thanks for not saying anything. Our own guilt was enough to deal with. So let's just look to what is happening in the now.

We continue to expand our webstore, carrying a variety of Minnesota classics and new releases. Just in stock is the new LP by Skoal Kodiak called Kryotonym Bodliak. This record has been a long time in the making and we're so happy that it has finally been released. Also recently available are two timeless slowcore Low records, Secret Name and Long Division. Additional we've restocked Trust, Things We Lost in the Fire and The Great Destroyer. Finally, we'll also have the recently reissued I Could Live in Hope very soon.

If mail order isn't your thing then this event might interest you. Modern Radio will be participating in Co Exhibitions' second annual World (craft) Fair on Saturday, December 10th. We'll be selling records from our entire catalog as well as our extended webstore. We also have a handful of new vinyl of select classic records including T-Rex, Velvet Underground, Superchunk, Spaceman 3, Black Flag and much more! We'll be there all day from 10am-6pm and Admission is FREE! See you there!

Sheridan Fox (His Mischief) has a residency every Wednesday in November at the new Amsterdam Bar in downtown Saint Paul. If you haven't been over to check it out you should. It's a great space and a much needed addition to the area. There's only a couple weeks left so don't miss out.

The Chambermaids have a new digital single available for free download on Bandcamp. They also have a few upcoming shows.
11/18 at the Kitty Cat Club w/ Mother of Fire, Is/Is & Brute Heart
12/17 at Hymie's w/ Is/Is (AA, 6:30-9:30PM)

STNNNG has been working on a colaborative project with FT (The Shadow Government). The bands have finally completed recoding and mixing after 4 years in the works. STNNNG will also be playing the annual winter blowout show at the Turf Club on January 7th w/ Birthday Suits, Blind Shake and Gay Witch Abortion.

Congrats to Robust Worlds and Polica for their inclusion in this year's City Pages "Picked To Click" Best New Bands poll. Robust Worlds is the solo project of Chris Rose (Vampire Hands) and Polica includes the rhythm section of Ben Ivascu (STNNNG) and Chris Beirden (Vampire Hands).

The guys from Vampire Hands also have a new band called Heavy Deeds. The group played their first few shows for a residency at the Turf Club last month and they continue to play shows around the Twin Cities.

That's it for now everyone. Have a good turkey day and you'll hear from us next month.

8/16/11 Update

Ah, another summer month, another step toward winter. What's that? You forgot about winter? Rest assured my fair weather friends, while you're busy complaining about the trials of summer heat, old Jack Frost or Edgar Winter, or whoever it is that pulls the snowy strings, is grinning anxiously waiting to show you what extreme weather is all about. So, no more whining about heat indices and long summer days, lest you be left out in the cold about all the cool shit going on around you.

Speaking of cool shit, your friendly Modern Radio record slangers held court at the annual Pitchfork Music Festival this past month in Chicago. We survived the high 90-degree heat and humidity (okay, maybe a little whining), represented a ton of great Twin Cities labels and bands, and even had an image of our illustrious leader, DJ TRL, captured for all of eternity on the Huffington Post. Yep, that's Tom, looking like a fiery comet of wisdom awash in record seller plaid. For more on the Pitchfork Fest experience, check out MPLS.TV's oh-so-cerebral reportage

So, why should you really care about our Chicago excursion? Because we stocked up on a bunch of sweet records before heading down and the leftovers are all yours, specially priced for newsletter subscribers. Classic LPs from bands like Velvet Underground, T-Rex, Superchunk, Spacemen 3, and Black Flag are still available and all priced to move at just a hair over wholesale. Get at 'em quick though, as supplies are seriously limited. You can check out the full list of stuff on our messageboard and just shoot us an E-mail if anything piques your fancy. If you're outside of the Twin Cities metro and require shipping we can let you know what that amount is as well.

In other news, STNNNG raided Hell's Kitchen recently for their Benefit for a Totaled Van show. The show was well attended and all the bands were great. Reviler's Adam Bubolz was on hand snapping pictures, which are up on their site. The band was also mentioned in a recent interview with Steve Albini as a band he currently enjoys. So check that out as well.

And finally, if you haven't heard, Modern Radio is helping in an effort to bring Mount Eerie to the Cedar Cultural Center this September. You can find more details about it on the Cedar website, but it's actually pretty simple. If you want to see Mount Eerie, pony up early and you can get some nice bonus goodies. It works like a Kickstarter campaign, and as we stand, we're just about ¾ of the way there with only 5 days left to contribute. 

That's it for this month. Stay tuned next month for more news on upcoming releases and much more!

7/13/11 Update

Summer is in full-swing, which means that Modern Radio is preparing to pack up some records, load up the car and head out on the open road on a vision quest to find truth, freedom, and the Pitchfork Music Festival in Chicago. In this news update, we'll be following our spirit animals, a wisecracking owl known as Sims and a street tough grizzly bear with a heart of gold known as STNNNG as they play shows and win hearts in the Twin Cities and beyond. Now, a vision quest is never an easy undertaking, so why not sit back, relax, and follow our summer progress via the more comfortable route of this news update? Just don't forget to fast for two days before reading on, or magical tidings of Pitchfork, STNNNG, Sims and our webstore may not appear.

Pitchfork Fest: We'll be at the CHIRP Record Fair at Pitchfork Music Festival again for the 3rd straight year, selling records from our catalog as well as a ton of other local Twin Cities labels and bands. At the table you will also find us selling a number of classic titles of past and present that we love including T.Rex, Superchunk, Hüsker Dü, Black Flag, Iggy Pop and much much more! The prices on all of these records are nice and easy. We'll be passing out free digital samplers that will include a variety of stuff from the Modern Radio catalog as well as other artists available in our web store.

STNNNG will be playing Hell's Kitchen in Minneapolis on August 4th with the Blind Shake and Buildings as a sort of fundraiser to help replace their totaled van. If you haven't heard the van had flipped on the freeway coming back late from a show in southern MN. Everyone is fine, minus some bumps, bruises and well, a operational van. So come by to show your support and let the guys know you're glad they're still alive.

SIMS continues to grab people's attention, racking up accolades and year end list mentions. Star Tribune recently included Bad Time Zoo in its list of the Best Local Albums of 2011 so far. Do yourself a favor and check out the interview/video of Sims where he talks to Buzzine in Austin, TX during SXSW. Doomtree also have a bunch of shows scheduled this Summer including Sims playing solo on August 19 in Somerset, WI for the SoundTown Music & Camping Festival

Webstore: If you've dropped by our web store lately you might have noticed that we've expanded our selection well beyond the Modern Radio catalog. We've been working dilegently to collect work of artists and labels that we enjoy within this community and beyond. Just recently we've added most of the Dark Dark Dark catalog, the new Soft Abuse release by Brute Heart and the latest from Lucy Michelle and the Velvet Lapelles. We'll be getting new titles in more regularly and will be letting people know of various deals and discounts, so check back periodically.

Finally, if you have signed up for our mailing list recently you might have noticed it is in a slightly different format. It has been a long time coming to get this mailing list / newsletter going. Hopefully you appreciate the new look. We'll be doing our best to bring you regular updates and specials from the web store. So tell your friends to sign up today!

Hope everyone is having a great Summer and if you're going to be in Chicago for Pitchfork Fest this weekend stop by the table and say hi.