Gabriel and the Apocalypse have just launched their video for Silent War. Catch them live on March 29 at Ground Zero with Chicago’s I:Scintilla, Go Fight and Goodnight Criminals. It’s going to be a great show! Details:

http://kiltedfarmer.com/2012/12/13/329-iscintilla-wgata-gofight-goodnight-criminals-at-ground-zero-18/

I:Scintilla at Ground Zero

With Gabriel and the Apocalypse, Go Fight and Goodnight Criminals

Friday, March 29, 2013
Doors 9:00 pm, 9:30 pm show, 18+
241s first hour after doors

DJs Nitrogen and Noise will keep you dancing until bar close.

Tickets $10 at the door

Venue Info

Ground Zero
15 4th Street NE
Minneapolis, MN 55413

Social Links

Facebook Event | Dark Twin Cities Discussion | Last.fm Event

Videos and band bios below the fold…

I:Scintilla

Photo courtesy of I:Scintilla

From www.iscintilla.com

Chicago’s I:Scintilla (pronounced “eye-sin-til-uh”) have spent the last nine years on a constant pursuit of musical exploration and artistic refinement. Never happy with genre boundaries, the quartet has taken its metal-infused electronica signature and drawn in elements of synth pop, trip-hop, and indie electro. Their latest effort, “Dying & Falling” (2010), masterfully blends such influences into an intelligent collection of powerful, introspective, and catchy songs. From the intense dance-rock of “Swimmers Can Drown” to the thoughtful down-tempo groove of the title track, the album pleases on many levels and is a testament to the band’s maturity. Their upcoming fourth album is an ambitious continuation of their musical travels and is set for release in early 2013.

The band is led by dynamic frontwoman Brittany Bindrim, whose words, melodies, and soaring vocals have resonated with a devoted and growing fan base. Rounding out the lineup are Jim Cookas (guitar/programming), Vincent Grech (drums), and Brent Leitner (guitar/programming). Over the years the band has established a solid reputation as a live act with their high energy shows that feature a mix of rock and electronic elements.

I:Scintilla formed in 2003 and quickly established an affinity for pushing musical boundaries while maintaining pop sensibilities. The result was their self-released debut album, “The Approach” (2004). Through relentless promotion and a strong online presence, the group soon attracted attention from established indie labels and eventually signed with Belgium-based Alfa Matrix in early 2006. Their first set of releases included the EP “Havestar” (2006) and full-length album “Optics” (2007). Both efforts managed to chart on Germany’s Deutsche Alternative Charts (DAC) with the former reaching #13 on the singles chart and the latter #6 on the albums chart. 2009 saw the release of the DAC-charting EP “Prey On You” that featured three new studio tracks and five club remixes.

Other notable accomplishments include festival appearances in the United States and Europe, most notably at Dragon*Con in 2012 and 2010 and at Germany’s Wave Gotik Treffen in 2007. They also appeared on the long-running independent music program JBTV in 2007 and have been featured in nearly every alternative music magazine in Germany and several in England, Belgium, and Italy. In 2008 the band hit the road with darkwave mainstays The Cruxshadows for an extensive three-month U.S. tour that brought their live show to every corner of the United States.

Here’s their brand new video for, Skin Tight, released in December 2012:

Gabriel and the Apocalypse

Photo by aztalanturf

From www.gabrielandtheapocalypse.com

Minneapolis industrial rock outfit, Gabriel and the Apocalypse are here to surprise and inspire. “Longevity comes from doing something different and having artistic integrity” says vocalist, Lindy Gabriel. “We want to take the mainstream and add our own artistic qualities.” The result is Gabriel and the Apocalypse- creative, original, visual, artistic, strong and here!

Gabriel and the Apocalypse released “Into the Afterglow” a full length album in 2009, to much acclaim. Their single, “Hey You” was voted #7 song of 2009 on Minnesota’s 93X “Loud and Local”. “Hey You” was also published for use on MTV/Microsoft’s Rock Band Network. In 2010 the band continued to play and expand their fan base playing shows throughout the midwest with National Acts such as Flyleaf, Otep, American Head Charge, Mushroomhead, Combichrist, We are the Fallen, Soil, Lords of Acid, Ventana, Pearl, Thrill Kill Kult and many more. The band was also been featured in the Jesse James Off Road DVD series.

The band released their latest full length record “new World disAsteR” in September of 2011. The first single “LIKE GoD” features Rick “ST1TCH” Thomas of Mushroomhead/Ventana. The band kicked off the release with a fullscale midwest tour alongside American Head Charge. A music video for the album’s opening song “Here Comes The Crash” was released in April of 2012.

Go Fight

Go Fight is an Electroscuzz band based out of Chicago, IL. They bring their infectious, dance-floor friendly music to Minneapolis for their first ever Minneapolis performance. Go Fight are veterans of the industrial scene going back to the Wax Trax days – their lineup includes Jim Marcus (ex-Die Warzau), Dan Evans (ex-Die Warzau, Dead on TV) and Vince Mcaley (ex-Die Warzau, Dead on TV).

Check out Go Fight live from Champaign, IL featuring I:Scintilla’s Brittany Bindrim on guest vocals for Pussygrinder:

For more info and free downloads, check out www.gofight.net.

Goodnight Criminals

From Last.fm

Chicago based, Goodnight Criminals, hit the ground running in 2012 with their debut release, “Liars, Thieves, and Pretenders”. The five-song E.P. gained industry attention, spawning a promotional supporting tour.

Their brand of electronic rock continues to captivate audiences. The song structure goes beyond catchy choruses and tight melodic hooks to bolster their own blend of analog synths, sequencing, and organic instruments.

Founded by Producer/Songwriter and I: Scintilla guitarist, Brent Leitner, the band is comprised of Chicago musicians, Troy Leitner on guitar, Adam Schweibenz on bass, and Brant Maze of New Rising Sun on drums.

In mid-2012, Goodnight Criminals released a re-mix album of their inaugural effort. The E.P. featured modified renditions by Midnight Conspiracy, Nynex, and Mend. To close out the year, songwriter, Brent Leitner, is back in the studio writing and producing songs for the band’s next release, due out early 2013.

Current Favorite Album:
The Hunger (band) – Leave Me Alone

Most anticipated album of 2012:
Depeche Mode

Favorite recently released album (within the past year):
Ministry – Relapse

Most memorable past live show:
Juliette Lewis @ Station 4

Touring act you’ve seen live the most times:
Depeche Mode 8x’s

What are you excited about musically right now?
Going to see Ministry in Chicago this June.

Name one band you think deserves more recognition:
Gabriel and The Apocalypse

Other music related activities:
TravLaur Productions

Of the Kilted Farmer shows you have helped promote or attended which has been your favorite?
Cruxshadows @ The Varsity

And the team bios just keep coming. This time, it’s Henry’s turn. Check out previous bios here. We’ll be profiling more Kilted Farmer team members periodically, so stay tuned.

Name: Henry Ostby

Role: Gender Bender/Santa’s Little Helper

Current favorite album: Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites

Most anticipated album of 2012: Born Villan

Favorite recently released album (within the past year): Apoptygma Berzerk Black EP Vol 2

Most memorable past live show: Marilyn Manson @ The Myth 02-08-08 (That’s my vale!)

Touring act you’ve seen live the most times: Marilyn Manson X5 (Soon to be X6)

Of the Kilted Farmer shows you have helped promote or attended, which has been your favorite?
I would have to say…hmm. I remember Seabound being very good. I would have to say that my favorite would have to be that I have a wonderful time whenever De/Vision comes to Mpls. I like them and they seem to have grown so much over the years. Been to all 3 shows. : )

What are you excited about musically right now? Icon Of Coil tour.

Name one band you think deserves more recognition. Gabriel and the Apocalypse.

Other music related activities: Seeing Rammstein for the first time ever after waiting over ten years. Hot.

Icon of Coil
Wednesday, September 12, 2012

With [:SITD:], Gabriel and the Apocalypse and Dissociate

Also featuring music by DJs Nitrogen and Noise throughout the evening

Doors 7:30 pm, 8:00 pm show, 18+
241s first hour after doors

Tickets $15 in advance / $20 at the door
VIP package info

Venue Info

Ground Zero
15 4th Street NE
Minneapolis, MN 55413

Social Links

Facebook Event | Last.fm Event

Icon of Coil

In 1997 Andy LaPlegua established the project, Icon Of Coil, which was primarily a concept built around a logo, graphic design and music. Soon after the inception, the music soon turned out to be the most important part of the concept and LaPlegua invited Sebastian Komor, who he had worked with before on the project Sector 9, (now called Moonitor) in 1996, to work with him on the project as a live member. After just a couple of gigs and the release of IOC’s first single, “Shallow Nation”, Seb became a full-time member.

Shallow Nation, released early in 2000, sold out the first thousand copies after only two weeks in the stores, which resulted in a deal with the Norwegian record label Tatra Records. Around that same time Tatra Records released the compilation Sex, Goth & Electronics, to which IOC contributed an exclusive version of their song “Repeat It”.

Before they started working on their second release IOC did programming for the Apoptygma Berzerk track “Starsign”. Soon afterwards, they traveled to Germany, with live member Jon Holm, to support Apoptygma on their Welcome to Earth tour 2000 at their gigs in Frankfurt, Cottbus and Leipzig before going back to Norway to play together at Rockefeller in Oslo.

Audiences seemed to enjoy Icon Of Coil’s energetic and melodious sound fused with Andy’s hypnotic voice and the band’s success grew. One Nation Under Beat debuted in the top 20 on the DAC-chart (Deutsch Alternative Chart) for eight weeks and peaked at number three.

In late spring of 2000 at a gig in Uddevalla, Sweden, Christian Lund joined the band as a live-member and went on stage with Andy and Seb for the first time. Along with being the vocalist for his En Route project, Christian had a background from a melodious EBM Fredrikstad-band called Elected By Fear where he played together with Fredrik Hansen from Echo Image (who also played at that gig) and Marius Johnsen from Centravibe.

After the release of IOC’s first full-length Serenity Is The Devil in November 2000, which reached number three on the DAC-chart, the band went to Germany together with Beborn Beton. With nine gigs, positive feedback from the audience and very good reviews on the debut album, IOC gained a following in the synth/industrial scene.

Shortly afterward, the album crossed the Atlantic and was released in North America by Metropolis Records. On March 29th, 2001, the band itself followed and boarded a plane to Chicago. They were on their own in a foreign country and on a tight budget. The band flew from city to city, slept in hotels and sometimes even in the homes of their promoters. The song Situations Like These from the (then) forthcoming Seren EP was played live for the first time to an incredibly enthusiastic and energetic American audience, which made the tour a big success. Then after playing at Slimelight and Astoria II (Electrofest) in London, the guys had a short break before they faced a festival-filled summer in Europe.

The summer kicked off with a successful show in Leipzig, Germany, at Wave-Gothic Treffen. The following festivals included CSD, Zillo Festival, Xtreaktor Festival, Eurorock, Infest and ended at M’era Luna where the trio did a hard-hitting performance in the Hangar.

Situations Like These became a big club hit and the band was ready for a second tour (this time in a Nightliner touring bus) of North America with VNV Nation. The leg began in Chicago on the 16th of November at a packed Vic Theatre, which set the standard for the rest of the 19 shows. Icon of Coil, VNV Nation and the rest of the crew continued up to Canada, down the east coast to Florida, through Texas to the West coast and Hollywood, where they did their 15th show in front of about 900 people at the Palace. The four-week tour ended in Edmonton, Canada with a great show and a huge after-party.

During their tours, the band found the time to write material for their April 2002 sophomore album, The Soul Is In The Software, which stayed at number one on the DAC for a several weeks. IOC then performed at two more festivals: The Dark Jubilee Festival in London; and later as the Sunday-headliner for Synthpop Goes The World in Toronto, Canada, which turned out to be a very good but warm weekend and concert.

Icon of Coil came a long way in a short amount of time. For 2004 their third album, Machines Are Us, continued the trend with pummeling beats, sympathetic vocals, anthem-like melodies, and sweeping synths. Careful not to be outdone or forgotten, Icon of Coil released UploadedAndRemixed, which featured brand new mixes of songs from their first two records and two exclusive tracks at the tail end of 2004. No speaker is safe from Icon of Coil’s bombastic onslaught.

[:SITD:]

by Damian Bailey (www.darkfrequenzy.com /www.ebm-radio.de/)

Bone-crunching beats and apocalyptical electro, pumped into the world from the Ruhrgebiet, the former industrial heart of Germany – that is [:SITD:]. The name stands for Shadows In The Dark, but without light no shadow can be and [:SITD:] certainly are a bright spot in the dark music scene.

Ever since their initial success “Snuff Machinery” hit the club floors the band is known and recognized for their trademark industrial electro beats crossed over by trance sequencers and epic string landscapes. Musical mastermind Tom Lesczenski crafted the unique [:SITD:] sound since he joined the band in 1999 to replace Thorsten Lau who had overseen the musical side of the project since it was founded in 1996.

On four albums and five EP’s/MCD’s [:SITD:] have successfully delivered to the dancefloors of the dark electro venues throughout the world. But they also carry deep, meaningful messages into the heads of their listeners. Singer Carsten Jacek writes the lyrics and brings them across in his unmistakable voice. Tom sings the more melodic tracks, when he feels an emotional connection, and provides backing vocals. So does Francesco D’Angelo, who joined the project in 2003 as a keyboarder.

Although Carsten and Tom have clearly separated their responsibilities in the band the result is almost always a remarkable match between music and message. “We have perfect chemistry”, states Carsten to describe the workflow in the band. “Sometimes I have an idea for a topic, write some draft lyrics or a couple of lines and send these to Tom with a description of my intentions and feelings. He then comes up with a song’s outline that perfectly matches what I had in mind. Or sometimes he produces the music first and I find the words to match his ideas.”

The band’s latest release is the album “Rot”, the German word for the color red. When it came out last October, it immediately climbed to the top of the DAC, the German alternative charts, and remained there for the maximum allowed time of eight weeks. It is filled with highly energetic club crackers and a few deep, atmospheric mid-tempo songs.

Carsten on stage

Red symbolizes energy, aggression, passion but also alert. It is a wakeup call for a dull society as much as an intense journey into the depths of the human soul. The title track sets the exciting pace, provides the creative frame of the album and also represents the sign of hope among the serious topics of the other songs.

The three have toured Germany and a couple of other European locations until the end of last year to present their new work. This year, they are confirmed to play on major German festivals with a gig on the Wave Gothic Treffen in Leipzig and the Blackfield festival in Tom’s home town of Gelsenkirchen among them.

Their original plan was to go to the USA this spring but these plans had to be cancelled on short-notice. Having already toured the USA with Imperative Reaction in 2008, Tom has only the best memories. “You just don’t believe that after travelling hundreds of miles through vast deserts you will find people who actually know your music. But they are there and they even know the lyrics.”

Official Site | Facebook | Reverbnation

Gabriel and the Apocalypse

Minneapolis industrial rock outfit, Gabriel and the Apocalypse are here to surprise and inspire. “Longevity comes from doing something different and having artistic integrity” says vocalist, Lindy Gabriel. “We want to take the mainstream and add our own artistic qualities.” The result is Gabriel and the Apocalypse- creative, original, visual, artistic, strong and here!

Gabriel and the Apocalypse released “Into the afterglow” a full length cd in 2009, to much acclaim. Their single, “Hey you” was voted #7 song of 2009 on the Minnesota’s 93x “Loud and Local.” “Hey you” was also published for use on MTV/Microsoft’s Rock Band Network.

In addition, the band has recently been featured on the Jesse James Off Road DVD series and in 2010, GATA signed with Artist Development and Management Firm, The Inner Light Agency. Damon Moreno of iLA says “Gabriel and the Apocalypse has real originality and unique sound. They’ve proven they are ready to work hard and that music is they’re life. Still, the best is yet to come! This band has so much to give and it’s truly awesome.

Most recently GATA has finalized a distribution deal with In Grooves/Universal Music Group. The band is due to release their third full length record titled “new World disAsteR”. “We want to generate a fresh sound.” says Lindy. Recently, the first single from “new World disAsteR” was released entitled “LIKE GoD” featuring Rick “St1tch” Thomas of MUSHROOMHEAD/VENTANA and impressed fans have raved! The new album has a release date for Sept. 13th 2011 and is set to impress.

Gabriel and the Apocalypse have shared the stage with the following national acts: Flyleaf, We are the fallen, American Head Charge, Otep, Mushroomhead, Soil, Pearl, Combichrist, Lords of Acid, Thrill Kill Kult, Ventana and many more.

All partners and endorsements: The Inner Light Agency, Rockin Tattoos, Kush Kills Clothing, Spector Basses, Kramer Guitars, Coffin Case, DR Strings, In Tune Guitar Pics, In Grooves/UMG.

Official Site | Facebook | Reverbnation

Dissociate

Conceived in 2001 by Jonathan Ford, the enigmatic Dissociate has been one of the hidden treasures of the Twin Cities electronic music community. Each sound within each track is carefully designed to experiment with and express the idea of finding the natural in the un-natural. The latest album is “DECImate!” released on 7/5/2011. Recorded and produced by Charles Sadler (Stellar Vector, Little Tin Box) and mastered by Nic Heidt (MSRP).

Dissociate is the solo project of Jonathan Ford, a Minneapolis, MN USA based musician, sound designer, and DJ that draws influence from an array of electronic genres both past and present. In contrast with many current electronic acts, Dissociate is designed with spontaneity and improvisation in mind. Each song is constructed and arranged in real-time from multiple hardware sound sources, triggered samples, live keys, and looping sequences. Though the overall structure of each song is preplanned, every performance is a unique exploration of the material often resulting in new musical discoveries within this confined aural space.

Dissociate released its debut independent album “Precursor” in May of 2008. The album was primarily recorded live with minimal overdubbing and post-production. The tracks were mastered by Colin Mansfield (Fine Art, Sound Commandos, Husker Du producer).

Past projects in which Jonathan Ford has participated include: playing guitar and programming for Dies Irae !US (1996-1999), co-founder of The Descent on KUOM 770 Radio K (University of MN, 1997-2003), as a sound designer, Jonathan has contributed music, audio collages, and sound effects to numerous local theatrical and performance art pieces. In 2002, Jonathan participated in an 8-hour production of “Die Hamletmaschine,” performed on July 4th in conjunction with the XIV World Congress International Federation for Theatre Research in Amsterdam.

At present, Jonathan produces and plays guitar for the emerging outfit Stellar Vector, which released its debut album “A Flock of Cowards” in 2010 and provides beats and samples for Aurascape, a local electro-new wave group.

Dissociate has opened for Nitzer Ebb, Covenant, Rotorsand, Amish Rake Fight, Micronaut and others.

Bandcamp | Facebook

I suppose I’ll go next in our series of introductions. If you missed the post on our Fearless Leader, Trace, check it out here. Check back for more introductions..or better yet, follow this blog, subscribe to our RSS feed, or follow/friend/like us via our social media pages.

Name: Renee (aztalanturf)

Role: Internet addict (Webmaster, Tweeter, Facebooker) and flyerer

Current favorite album:
Caution by Left Spine Down

Most anticipated album of 2012:
Not Your Kind of People by Garbage

Favorite recently released album (within the past year):
Gabriel and the Apocalypse, New World Disaster

Most memorable Kilted Farmer show:
I:Scintilla, Thought Thieves and Cwn Annwn at Ground Zero, March 30, 2012

Most memorable non-Kilted Farmer show:
Garbage at The El Rey in Los Angeles, April 10, 2012

Touring act you’ve seen live the most times:
Tie between VAST and The Dreaming (5 times each)

What are you excited about musically right now?
All the great bands in Minnesota like Gabriel and the Apocalypse, The Rope, Thought Thieves, Cwn Annwn, Gospel Gossip, Agora Forte, Thira, Screaming Mechanical Brain, As/Of, OBCT, Whithering the Tide, The Trapezoids, Mach Fox, Static Image, Funeral & the Twilight…The list goes on.

Name one band you think deserves more recognition:
Violet Winter from Chicago

Other music related activities:
Host of Aztalan Turf Podcast, concert photographer in training, and crazy Garbage fangirl

Kilted Farmer Koncerts is composed of a group of people who eat, sleep and breathe music, and in particular, live music. You’ll often see us at shows featuring local, national and international acts, at dance nights such as Chamber, Transmission, Hard Mondays or the various dance nights at Ground Zero, at the Elysium Society’s Gothic Coffee meetups, or Goth Prom planning meetings. You might also see us around the web blogging, podcasting, posting about music, or discussing music at Dark Twin Cities.

Some of you know us and some of you don’t, so we’ll be doing a series of “getting to know you” blog posts to give you an idea of who we are via some things that have caught our attention musically. First up is our fearless leader, Trace.

Name:
Trace (The Kilted Farmer)

Role:
Fearless leader

Current favorite album:
Journey – Eclipse

Most anticipated album of 2012:
Pet Shop Boys – Format

Favorite recently released album (within the past year):
Van Halen – A Different Kind of Truth

Most memorable past live show:
Journey at Moondance Jam 2009

Of the shows you’ve promoted, which has been the most memorable:
Information Society/Moulin Noir @ Varsity in 2009!!!

Touring act you’ve seen live the most times:
Poison – 4X

What are you excited about musically right now?:
The upcoming concert schedule that we are planning and that me and my wife are planning on attending!! (She won’t go to Rammstein with me though. Hates Them!!)

Name one band you think deserves more recognition:
Gabriel and the Apocalypse

Other music related activities:
Singing in the tractor!!

Figgles McGee of Gabriel and the Apocalypse by aztalanturf

Long time City Pages Gimme Noise blogger Andrea Swensson has departed the paper for The Current and in her farewell post this week, she articulated what’s been in the back of my mind for a while:

Just last month, during a taping of The Local Show with my new employer, 89.3 the Current, host Dave Campbell asked his guests if we thought we were living through another golden age of Minnesota music. Without pause, Chris Riemenschneider from the Star Tribune, Ross Raihalafrom the Pioneer Press, and myself—all longtime documentarians of the local scene—nodded our heads and answered in a unanimous “yes.”

There is some phenomenal music being created in our back yard, and it’s not just one or two genres that are thriving right now. We are very lucky. From hip hop to rock to metal to the various electronic genres, there is an abundance of tremendously talented artists and bands in the Twin Cities. But let’s focus on the darker, synth based and electronic bands.

As|Of at TC Electropunk 6 CD Release by aztalanturf

The abundance of great local shows this past week is a perfect illustration of what’s happening on the synthy/darker side of local music right now.

• Thursday, January 5:
  The Rope, Safewords, Still Pacific, Blood and the Sun at The Varsity
• Friday, January 6:
  OBCT, Thought Thieves, Dissociate at the Fine Line
• Friday, January 6:
  Gabriel and the Apocalypse, Pinwheel, I Corvinus, UZZA at the Triple Rock
• Friday, January 6:
  Men of Sport and Leisur, Jealous Jester, Torch the Spires, As|Of at Club Underground

OBCT at TC Electropunk 6 CD Release by aztalanturf

There were three shows on Friday night that I had on my calendar. Three! While it’s unfortunate that I had to choose one show, it says a lot about the depth of talent in the Twin Cities.

The Rope

Source: The Rope's Official Facebook

I’ll start from the top with The Rope. Most of The Rope’s shows have featured extremely diverse bills at a wide variety of venues and this is reflected in their following. The band made their debut at The Varsity Theater this past Thursday night and the crowd was filled with people of all ages and from all walks of life – everyone from the leather and combat boot clad to university students to music geeks of all assortments.

Whether they realize it or not, The Rope are on the cusp of doing something big for Minneapolis music, in particular because of their willingness to join forces with bands very different from themselves musically, including electropunks Thought Thieves and The Night. More on the electropunks later.

I’ve been lucky enough to have been introduced to the post-punk leaning rock band fairly early on in the band’s history. My first exposure was when they opened for industrial band Roughhausen at the 400 Bar in January of 2011. That first time I saw The Rope, I immediately knew that this band was something special. The band was very tight and even though each individual instrument part is fairly simple in nature, when you put everything together, the songs become so much more. The way that front man Jesse Hagon sang with all his heart that night (and each time I’ve seen them since) gave the well crafted songs that little something extra. To add to all that, I almost immediately felt the urge to dance. While I’m not in any way averse to dancing, it usually takes me a little while to get warmed up to the idea, so for me to want to start moving right off the bat is quite telling.

Look for The Rope’s video of Water to Wine, which was shot Thursday night at The Varsity. Listen here:

The Rope are playing with Funeral and the Twilight, Claps and Hollow Boys on Saturday, January 21 at The Hexagon. It’s free so no excuses. Those of you who were at The Rope’s EP release show will recognize Funeral and the Twilight, an interesting mix of surf, punk, thrash and jazz.

The TC Electropunk Movement

Electropunks OBCT, Thought Thieves and Dissociate played a short notice show at the Fine Line on Friday night and Ad|Of played at Club Underground. Apparently electropunk has been a thing here in the Twin Cities for some time, but I had not known the term until I went to the TC Electropunk Vol. 6 CD release show in December. I’ll let www.tcelectropunk.com explain the electropunk thing for the uninitiated:

Nobody invented this electropunk thing. No city can claim it (though New York certainly tries). It’s simply what happens when you take a generation of bored teens and twentysomethings – raised on hardcore punk, British techno, Nintendo, and Doritos – and place cheap digital recording technology within their grasp. Next thing you know, you’ve got a million zillion half-rock, half-electronic, cyborg bands thrashing out one MP3s after another of ragged, jagged synthesizer pop and giving it away for nothing on their websites. Nobody asked for some big record label’s permission – heck, most of them didn’t even pay for the software they’re using – they’re just doing it for the hell of it. Because there’s no excuse for boredom when you’ve got computers and guitars.

What is key about these bands is the community they’ve created. Though there’s a big range in sounds and styles, these bands play shows together, help each other and do everything with a DIY and punk rock attitude. And while many of the electropunk bands are a staple at Northeast Minneapolis’ Club Underground, you’ll find them at venues all over the Cities including Hell’s Kitchen, Cause, Ground Zero, The Nomad, 7th St. Entry, The Hexagon, The Fine Line, The Triple Rock and more and embrace playing shows with bands of different genres. It’s this sort of community, big or small, that is essential to a thriving music scene.

Here are songs from electropunks Dissociate, The Night and As|Of (remixed by fellow electropunks Kether):

Gabriel and the Apocalypse

2011 was a great year for Minneapolis based Gabriel and the Apocalypse. They released Hey You to the Rock Band Network for Xbox 360 in February, opened for Combichrist in May, recorded and released a fantastic new album this fall and then toured the Midwest with newly reformed local powerhouse, American Head Charge. They were voted December’s MN Band of the Month and Best MN Band of 2011 on St. Cloud rock radio station Rockin 101.

Gabriel and the Apocalypse have set themselves up for a big 2012. Friday’s show at the Triple Rock saw buzz from The Onion’s A.V. Club and City Pages. They are another great example of the high quality music thriving in the Twin Cities. Their next show is February 8 with, Psychostic, Ventana, As Summer Dies and Screaming Mechanical Brain at Station 4.

Upcoming Shows

There are ample opportunities to see these great local bands in action, and usually at very low cost. Here are a few upcoming shows featuring local artists:

Got a favorite local band of the dark or electronic genres? Are any upcoming shows missing? Post a comment.

There are some great events coming up in the next week or so. Be sure to get out and celebrate Halloween with some live music or a dance night! Below are a few events that we recommend. Happy Halloween!

• Mon., Oct. 24:
  Darker Monday (Hard Mondays) at The Saloon
• Wed., Oct. 26:
  Transmission presents Dead Souls (the annual “dark” Halloween mix) at Clubhouse Jager
• Fri., Oct. 28:
  Blood On The Dance Floor with Angelspit, New Years Day, and Just Say Yes at Station 4
• Sat. Oct. 29:
  American Head Charge and Gabriel and the Apocalypse at The Primetime (Burnsville)
• Sat. Oct. 29:
  Halloween Masquerade Ball at Ground Zero
• Mon. Oct. 31:
  Hard Mondays at The Saloon

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Kilted Farmer Koncerts and Ground Zero present…

Monsters On Tour, Wed. May 11

Combichrist
With iVardensphere & Star Killer
Special guests: Gabriel and the Apocalypse

Doors 7 pm, 7:30 pm show, 18+
2-4-1s first hour after doors

DJs Noise and Nitrogen will be fulfilling your stomping fix between sets!

Tickets $15 adv at Brown Paper Tickets, $20 door

Venue Info

Ground Zero
15 4th Street NE
Minneapolis, MN 55413

Discuss

See who’s going and discuss at Dark Twin Cities.

Last.fm Event | Facebook Event