Shape Up :: Total Babe

Shape Up by Total Babe

Well hey there world. We've all been sadly remiss in our blogging. I figure life happens, people get busy, blogging drops by the wayside. However, the time is ripe for our grand return to the blogosphere. Who knows, maybe we'll even venture out into the twitterverse.

Today I bring you the tune "Shape Up" by local Minneapolis band Total Babe. These folks played at the Twin Cities Avengers Glamboree fundraiser back in the early spring and totally stole the show. Since then, they've been busy getting rave reviews in all sorts of places, from the City Pages to Bust magazine. If you happen to be in the Twin Cities, they'll be playing at First Ave with Jeremy Messersmith and Chastity Brown coming up on September 18th at 6pm.

"Shape Up" has an amazingly catchy hook, but as a deficient whistler I'm impressed by anyone that can whistle a tune. Listen for the perfectly complimentary violin arrangement, a common thread through all of Total Babe's music. For more metaphorically minded musical descriptions, scroll on down through the Total Babe myspace page and read all those rave reviews.

Speak New Words: Walk in Harmony :: Bethany Deline

Bethany Deline

Ukulele Player, Dancer, and Designer Extraordinaire

In case you haven't guessed already, this is my wonderful new friend, Bethany Deline. Not only is she at the U of M design school with me, but she also has a dance background and a sparkling smile. Aside from automatically being cooler than the rest of us by being from Canadia, she has also written and recoded several lovely tunes. Although she has been finding time recently to write, the music that she has up on her website currently is an eclectic mix of covers and original stuff, all with a Bethany twist. The ukulele is an instrument that can stand on its own and goes well with images of sandy beaches and warm summer days, but (I feel) is a difficult instrument to pair with others. It is so simple and sweet sounding that it would just sound wrong with big drums or rich strings. However, Bethany uses her voice, simple clapping, guitar, and even tapping to add depth and dimension to her stuff. Tapping is my clear favorite, but not simply because it is a dance form. The tapped rhythms are able to be so much complex than a clapped one, and the sound is so light and bright that it compliments her ukulele beautifully.

This particular tune, even though she begged me to use a "better" song, displays the spirit of her music well and it's more fun since there's a video that goes with it! :) The people that make those "Responsibility: pass it on" commercials could take a lesson from Bethany. So take a listen!

For more of Bethany, check out her myspace HERE and her personal website HERE.

Never Knew Your Love :: Tina Schlieske

This week's guest blogger is Kelsey...

"Tina sounds like the unholy love child of Janis Joplin, Joan Osborne, and the goddess of Southern Baptist Soul. Goes with: Saturday-night sinning and Sunday-morning spirit-cleansing." J.C. - Bitch Magazine

When PRIDE weekend kicked off this last Friday here in Minneapolis, I had no idea what I was in for. I decided on a whim to go to the Uptown Block Party, where Tina Schlieske was headlining. WOW, WOW, WOW! I didn’t know anything about her before I arrived, but I was in love by the time I left! She is a queer female singer/songwriter/activist with a huge diva voice and a rockin’ performance style. I could not sit still through the entire set! I jumped/danced/yelled/spun around in the street until I was exhausted and dizzy, but I still couldn’t get enough of her soulful voice and bluesy musical stylings.

Right then and there, I decided that I needed to blog about her, and the more I found out about her, the more amazed I became. She grew up here in Minneapolis, where she taught herself to the play the guitar and started her first band, Tina and the B-Sides, while still in High School. She and the B-Sides stayed together for 10 years, during which time Tina started her own record label called Movement Records. (Now here is where I got really excited…) In 2001, music legend and fellow Austinite Stevie Ray Vaughn (!!!!) approached Tina to be the new lead singer/rhythm guitarist for his band, Double Trouble. (I know you’re excited, too. Don’t try to hide it.) Eventually, though, she decided to leave the band in order to create her new, solo debut album, “Slow Burn,” here in her native Minnesota.

Unfortunately, I could not find any song lyrics for her, but I did find this great video of her performing at 1^st Ave. It’s a promo video, so it’s not one continuous song, but instead a great sampling of some new songs, some stuff she did with the B-Sides, and some stuff from her new solo album. All in all, she is an amazing performer, who marries my love for my two homelands (Austin, TX and Minneapolis, MN), and y’all should check her out!

Here's a good place to find her, and a promotional video...

And, since I’m just this sentimental (it is pride after all), this is a recording of her song “Never Knew Love,” dedicated to Meggo…

I Can Breathe Underwater :: Fitzgerald

I have wanted to blog about these guys for a while now, but I haven't been able to find the time, or a video on YouTube/Myspace/what have you. So, if you want to hear, "I Can Breathe Underwater" from their Raised by Wolves Album, you'll have to go to their MYSPACE page. Huge hassle, I know... :) Otherwise, you can hear some of their other great songs by clicking on the videos below.

My best friend Jess originally introduced me to Fitzgerald when I first moved up here to Minnesota a few years ago. They have been with me through many road trips, cold winter days, and lazy weekend afternoons. The band consists primarily of the most adorable husband and wife duo, EVER, and they alternately perform alone and with other members of the Minneapolis musical community. I have now attempted to see them live like 3 times, and by insane acts of habeas corpus, I have not successfully been able to, but their stuff rocks!
The song I chose particularly resonates with me because of its content and the way it radiates peace. It's really hard to find good love songs that aren't cheesy or about a love that's more like infatuation, but "I Can Breathe Underwater" is about a love that's comfortable and deep. It's about being with someone that you feel safe with, close with, and someone that you love to sleep next to, just to feel them breathe. To dream next to someone is wonderful, but to be able to exist in that dream with them, in a place of bodily suspension, a space where the wounds inflicted by the world can be healed, and tangled limbs and hair can be be discerned through the ripples on the surface, is to experience great love. :)

Unfortunately, Fitzgerald is no longer, but they have a new band, with a very similar sound, called Ghost in the Water. Their stuff is great as well and you can find their page HERE.

I Can Breathe Underwater::Fitzgerald
I can breathe underwater
I can breathe underwater
I can breath underwater
Breathing all by myself

At night, when you are sleeping
I'll be under the river
Looking at the stones and
Breathing all by myself

So break my
Break my fall with kisses
Don't wake me
Wake me with a sigh
The truth is
Tangled up in this soul
Now my lungs are soaking
And they're wet

I can breathe underwater
I can breathe underwater
I can breathe underwater
Breathing all by myself

Don't worry I'm not drowning
Starting soft and awfully soothing
I'll come up when I'm ready
Breathing all by myself

So break my
Break my fall with
Kisses
Don't wake me
Don't wake me with a sigh
The truth is
Tangled up in this soul
Now my lungs are soaking
And they're wet

The ripples are surfacing
The bubbles are breaking
There's hair floating up from the
Head that's submerged
One hand guides the stone
One sits left and it's skipping
Thumbs take on water and then
Breathing returns

I remember when we were children
I remember everything
What we lost when we were swimming
Always submerged
Always breathing

How Far North - Fitzgerald


Dirt - Fitzgerald