3/16/10 Update

Welcome to the new and improved Modern Radio website! It has been a long time coming as its been a goal of ours to update the look of this site. We've made some changes to the webstore, messageboard and generally how the site navigates. We'll be adding even more bells and whistles as we go forward, including adding a lot more music and art for sale beyond the Modern Radio catalog. Thanks to Bob and Justin for their countless hours of work in making this site a reality. We could not have done it without them.

So when last you heard from us we were on the cusp of celebrating our 10 year anniversary with a weekend of fun in late January. Well, it was a overwhelming success! Thanks to all of the bands who played unbelievable performances and thanks to everyone who came out to party. We feel so fortunate to have been around for over a decade, and it's because of all the great people and musicians that we've worked with and gotten to know over the years that have made the past decade so much fun.

As we mentioned before, Schedule Two was filming at the Cedar show. We can't wait to see what they were able to capture, but for now here are some other videos from those in attendance. As always, we were glad to have photographers Greg Schaal and Adam Bubolz on hand to document the events. Check out some of what each of them shot from their flickr pages as well as what City Pages and Reviler had to say about the events.

We'd also like to announce the release of a new split 12" record by Vampire Hands and Daughters of the Sun. VH and DOTS will be out on the road together this Spring for six weeks and what better way to commemorate the tour than by making a record. The split 12" is called Skull Judge and will include five brand new songs by Vampire Hands and one epic journey by Daughters of the Sun. Upon return from their month and a half jaunt cross-country, the bands will reconvene in the Twin Cities May 29th at 331 for the local release of the album. We'll have a full listing of tour dates in the coming weeks so check back at our shows page. You can also pre-order the record on our newly designed webstore.

Other projects coming along in 2010 is the new LP by STNNNG and Skoal Kodiak. Both bands are just about finished with recording and have begun work on album art. Needless to say we are very excited for these records to become a reality.

Finally, if you are a fan of ABC Family's college life dramedy Greek, you may have recognized some of the music in last week's episode featuring Freaks Up Front and Show Me Around off of His Mischief's latest lull-length The Perfect Lover. It's riveting stuff as you can imagine any family oriented, network depiction of college life would be.

12/1/09 Update: A Decade of Modern Radio

It gives us a great amount of pleasure to finally, officially announce this huge milestone for the label. Modern Radio Record label has now been in existence for 10 years. It's our 10 year anniversary! So to celebrate the occasion we bring to you a weekend of great friends, community and music, the cornerstones of which Modern Radio was founded.

Save the date, the weekend of Friday, January 22 and Saturday 23 - 2010. We start off the big weekend bash at a venue that has become a second home to Modern Radio, the Turf Club. Midwest super group FT (The Shadow Government) will convene for a rare performance along with Twin Cities stalwarts Daughters of the Sun, The Chambermaids and Double Bird The show will also include a special solo performance in the Clown Lounge by His Mischief's own Sheridan Fox.

Saturday, January 23, the party continues at the Cedar Cultural Center for a early, all ages event. This show has long been in the works and we are so excited to be bringing you these four bands that have become household names in the Twin Cities music community. Modern Radio presents to you STNNNG, Skoal Kodiak, Vampire Hands and a reunited, one time performance by The Plastic Constellations for your listening enjoyment. You read that right, THE PLASTIC CONSTELLATIONS! We've got a couple other things up our sleeve for this show as well including some special guests, additional activities and surprises, from our favorite Twin Cities proprietors. So mark your calendars for what is sure to be the craziest weekend of winter. Tickets go on sale this Friday at the Cedar Cultural Center box office and participating outlets.
Check out these cool promotional videos for the 10 year anniversary shows. Thanks to Jesse from STNNNG for putting together the Modern Radio 10 Year Commercial and Martha from The Chambermaids for making A Decade of Modern Radio. We also have the Friday and Saturday posters completed, designed by Dan Back of Landland. The posters are a actual flip book that can be cut up and assembled to make a cool little animation, as seen here.

One last thing. We've put together a somewhat brief write up that summarizes the goings on, achievements, the history of Modern Radio Record Label. It's been a crazy, wild ride this past decade so it was fun to look back at everything this tiny Twin Cities label has been up to. Thanks to everyone for your support over the years. I believe it's customary to say something to the extent of, we hope the next 10 years are as enjoyable, blah, blah. Let's just get through the frigid winter first.

Friday, January 22nd at the Turf Club
FT (The Shadow Government)
Daughters of the Sun
The Chambermaids
Double Bird
Sheridan Fox (His Mischief)
21+, doors at 9PM - $7

Saturday, January 23rd at the Cedar Cultural Center
The Plastic Constellations
Skoal Kodiak
Vampire Hands
STNNNG
and more!
All Ages, doors at 4:30PM - $10

10/22/09 Update

It’s been awhile since we last spoke, but don’t think Modern Radio forgot about you! This week’s update is jammed to the gills with exciting news about Skoal Kodiak, Daughters of the Sun, STNNNG, Vampire Hands, the Danforths, the Chambermaids, His Mischief, and some friends who were officially Picked to Click.

Skoal Kodiak

Modern Radio is very excited to announce the addition of Minneapolis dance noise rockers Skoal Kodiak to the roster. Freddy (The Cows), Brady (Seawhores) and Markus (Quad Muth) have been packing rooms and inspiring dance parties in underground venues across the Twin Cities. The band is always a crowd favorite at the avant-garde, annual Heliotrope Festival in Northeast Minneapolis. Most recently they headlined the Pet Rock fundraiser event at the 501 Club. You can find some pics from the event--as well as some vintage Skoal video footage—on our Twitter page.

The new album is being recorded by Jon Nielsen of Knife World, and is slated for a spring 2010 release date. Skoal Kodiak will also be touring the Midwest and the East Coast from November 2-14. Check them out on tour or at one of the upcoming local dates listed on our shows page.

Daughters of the Sun

The local psych rockers are heading out on the road once again, with shows planned in Denver, the South and the Midwest. Somehow they’ve also found time to work on some new cassette-only recordings, and are playing a big show at First Avenue with heavy-hitters the Raveonettes and the Black Angels.

STNNNG

These are the first STNNNG shows in quite some time, so don’t miss them! First the band is playing a much-anticipated early Sunday show with Pittsburgh, PA’s Microwaves. A few days later they’ll be joining Blind Shake and Wereworm at the Turf. Fun fact about Wereworm: the group features Milwaukeean Tom Stack, who has done posters for previous Modern Radio sponsored lunch shows, designed a t-shirt for STNNNG, and creates what Tom calls “really cool bird art.” Check out Stack’s work here. STNNNG are also working on a new album, planned for a spring 2010 release.

Vampire Hands

Vocalist/percussionist Colin has moved to Montana, but the group is continuing on as a three-piece. The newly-reconfigured Vampire Hands is working on some new tunes and getting ready for a couple of upcoming shows.

Additionally, Chris Rose from the band just got back from a lengthy tour with Private Dancer. Culturebully has been posting the Private Dancer video blog and it’s pretty funny. You can follow the Private Dancer tour route starting with their first stop in Chicago, with segments in Spring Green, WI, Sacramento, and Seattle, just to name a few.

The Danforths

Neil and Tom from the Danforths are behind the new Afternoon EP website. It’s a collection of art projects, videos, and songs.

The Chambermaids

The local post-punks are back in town after a successful fall tour. A good time was had by all, as you can see in the above clip from the Barn Party they played with Private Dancer in Spring Green. Reviews of the record are starting to come in. We'll share them as they are published. Here is the review from Verbicide who featured Down in the Berries as record of the day.

His Mischief

His Mischief bassist Jeff Quinn is on tour with Har Mar Superstar and can be seen tearing up stages across the country for the next six weeks.

Yellow Swans

Gabriel from Yellow Swans just finished a series of North American tour dates with his new conceptual sound project Sade Sade. Tour stops were in Minneapolis, Pittsburgh, Portland, New York and Vancouver (where Gabriel now calls home). Sade Sade’s recordings and performances have utilized guitar, tapes, mixer feedback, keyboards, and vocals. Gabriel experiments with field recordings, processed blank cassettes, and non-amplified electric guitar to create unique sound art. Also, check out the final Yellow Swans album, posthumous out on type records. It is incredible. Pete is working on a number of things as well, including a mix tape project out on the same label that put out the last Yellow Swans album.

Shotgun Monday/Killsadie/The Chambermaids Jon from ex-Modern Radio band Shotgun Monday joined Har Mar Superstar onstage at the Uptown Bar in Minneapolis last month for a “secret” Calvin Krime reunion show during Har Mar’s fall tour. Two other Shotgun Monday alums, Bob (Killsadie) and Mickey (The Chambermaids) have been playing shows with a new Minneapolis band called Chibalo featuring Travis from Song of Zarathustra and Jason from Huge Rat Attacks/Camp Surreal. You can see pictures of the show at culturebully, courtesy of Adam Bubolz.

Mirah

Mirah has wrapped a brief U.S. tour in support of her most recent album, (A)spera, which was released on K Records earlier this year.

Malachi Constant/STNNNG

Malachi Constant vocalist/guitarist Carl and Drummer Alex recently got engaged, to their respected partners, not each other. STNNNG bassist Jesse was also recently married. Congrats guys!

Tight Phantomz

The Onion A.V. Club had a great piece on Tight Phantomz frontman Mike Lust last month where he talks about his new unreleased album Silk Prison.

Picked to Click

Before we go, congratulations to a couple of our favorite newish groups here in town, Double Bird and Whitesands/Badlands, for being Picked to Click in the City Pages yearly roundup! Double Bird features members from now defunct Modern Radio band Signal To Trust. Their first show together as Double Bird was part of the Modern Radio 9th anniversary show in June 2008. Whitesands/Badlands has roots in former Modern Radio bands The Vets and Cave Deaths.