"I've been trying to hold you up to keep you free from the fall"

Ahhhh, my first The Music Is The Message post. My mind was a jumbled mess trying to figure out what I would write about first. I don’t think I’ve realized how much music means to my life until recently. In my old age I’ve become sort of a loner and good music equals good company. So what will this cynical Minnesotan pick first? Prince? No, but stay tuned. I am a certified Prince freak so that will come down the road.

Tapes N Tapes is a local indie rock Minneapolis band who have caught on nationally like Paris Hilton catches the herp. Their first full length album was The Loon in 2005. The album brought something fresh that I hadn’t heard in a while. It was eclectic and imperfect, which was not a bad thing in this case. Imperfection is what makes life beautiful, right? Insistor was the big hit off this album. It drives fast and makes you want to do a serious jig with a ciggie in one hand and a pitcher of Premium in the other. No, not a bottle or can. A pitcher. This is a serious beer-spilling, jig-dancing song.

This year brought Tapes’ second full length album, Walk It Off. This shit was like my crack for about a good month. I’m a chick - I wear make-up, high heels and love a good romantic comedy, but this whole album makes me want to throw shit around and break stuff... but in a really good way. It’s slightly more polished than The Loon and in the first track, Le Ruse, Tapes seriously brought it to the table. For God’s sake, there’s a song titled George Michael on this album! I mean, you can’t get any better than that.

I’ve seen Tapes live twice and they can carry a live show all the way through. I’ve always said that a band’s live show can make or break them, and they are worth seeing. On a side note the bassist of Tapes, Erik Appelwick, is also the lead of Vicious Vicious. I highly recommend you catch some of his stuff as well. It’s the polar opposite of Tapes, full of catchy hooks and soul. It’s also very reminiscent of Prince. I promise not to brag too much about the musical geniuses that have come out of Minnesota...maybe.