This Friday in the Twin Cities there are four CD release parties, which is an amazing number. It all points to a thriving local music scene.
Doomtree
First off, the biggest buzz has been about the Doomtree CD Release show. This collective is hitting it’s highest mark yet, with their new album.
Doomtree CD Review
Doomtree CD [...]

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By Crystal Erickson
The Doomtree collective stands out as a nearly perfect creation—in a city already ripe with hip hop—but one that couldn’t hail from anywhere besides Minneapolis. They’re as Minneapolitan as the cherry and spoon—or First Avenue—where their annual blowout is held.

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By Nelson Heise
There is a lot of punch in this nine-song disc by Grey Skies. It has its moments where all the cylinders aren’t turning but for the most part it brings high energy, good songmanship and tight performances. This quartet has been rocking the Twin Cities region a little over a year mixing experimental [...]

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By: Kaleb Bronson
Cruising up to the “spot” on the “skate,” comes Atlas Dusk, a matured, yet young sounding man stuck in the realm of 90s hip hop with his new album “When I Grow Up.”
Using chopped-up beats, and categories built from MySpace pages, Dusk forces a peanut butter and jelly sandwich of un-compounded rhymes into [...]

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By Rich Horton
After listening to the first few songs off of Michael Young’s “Parallel Play” I immediately thought of Leo Kotke. Coincidentally, after reading Young’s bio it was no surprise Kotke is one of his biggest influences.

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Too much going on this week to have a band of the week, but some of this weeks events stand out. Tonight 7/24/08 at the Bryant Lake Bowl, Jenny Dalton is playing and presenting the best of the 48 hour film festival. Dalton really stands out in the music scene as a musician who is [...]

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By Chris Mara
First of all, it’s great to be back writing for Rift Magazine.  I’ve been sequestered away in the studio world and have (unfortunately) been neglecting my writing duties the past few months.   I sincerely apologize to all of you going through Chris Mara withdrawal. (That was a weak stab at self-deprecating humor folks…)

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By Tony Thomas
Enemy Swim is a lake in South Dakota that–according to local legend–was the scene of a battle between Native American tribes that left the lake littered with the bodies of the attacking tribe.

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By Andrew Flanagan
On A Winner’s Shadow Kid Dakota have an album of soft-tipped spikes and urban/urbane self-questioning modern times personal emotional crises. A mouthful, and true. With so many bands now exploring a sort of post-confessional emotional space, and in a climate of people saturated with everyone’s diary blogs and lost loves and opinions 24/7, [...]

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By: Kaleb Bronson
Just when the world thought hip hop was turning in its rotting grave; a young, lippy and fearless MC comes out of the woodwork to lay down the nearly criminal and lawless lyrics placed within the album “Economy Size goDD Costume.” Ecid is his MC name, and with his new solo album he [...]

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