Amdeide, Apox, Apraxia, Astral Grey, Audio Victim, Avenpitch, Circa A.M., Eddie Entropy, The Eighth, The Eighth Day, Endless Blue, Envy is Blind, Evarial, Fadladder, Future Wives, Gabber Nullification Project, Gigi Ranchero, Heliosphere, Hondo, IKKI, Iron Balls Magente, Lolly Pop, Mach FoX, milkbar, MSRP, Neo Void, OBCT, One Two Three Dead, OneNeoEon, Pop Inc, Rabidine, Screaming Mechanical Brain, St. Anthony Falls, Stellar Vector, TELEPHONE!, Thosquanta, Thought Thieves, Tim Rally Gold, The Trapezoids, Trashed Actor, Uber Cool Kung Fu, Unicorn Basement, Zibra Zibra
Nobody invented this electropunk thing. No city can claim it (though New York certainly tries). Its 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 labels 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 theres no excuse for boredom when you've got computers and guitars.
If that ain't punk, I don't know what is.
And while I said no city owns the electropunk movement, the kids in the Twin Cities are definitely ahead of the curve. Maybe its because they had Prince to show them the way of the synthesizer, and Hüsker Dü to teach them how to make a big noise in the underground. Or maybe its just because, with the weather being as cold as it is, they spend more days locked inside with their instruments and their PCs, while those of us in sunny L.A. and temperate Chicago are down at the beach. Don't ask me why all I know is that, everywhere you turn in Minneapolis-Saint Paul, theres another band mixing punk attitude and electronic noises in bitchin' new ways.
So here you have it, the Twin Cities Electropunk Compilation Series. Thus far, we're at fifty-five tracks of raging, Technicolor techno-punk from the Great White North. Lap it up, love it, copy it, give it to all your friends, or throw it away. Then go get a computer, a CASIO, and microphone and start your own scene. Hey, if it can happen in Minnesota, it can happen wherever you live, too.
You can download all Twin Cities Electropunk compilations by right clicking the links below and hitting "Save Target As...". Enjoy!
Announcing! A show of of epic proportions crammed into a space no bigger than the average living room! There will be acts of courage! Acts of bravery! There will be unmentionable acts! There will be mentionable acts! There will be talking! Drinking! There will acts so random that they aren't even worth repeating! Only three bands though, sorry.
Mondocane MNdustrial Showcase OBCT, Amdeide, Reverend John Wheeler, Mercy Kill April 5th 2008 @ Club Underground 355 Monroe - NE Minneapolis $5.00 - 9:00 p.m. - 21+ www. clubunderground. us
