Can't get enough MNDR

I discovered electronica musician MNDR when some friends and I took the trip down to Northfield, MN a few weeks back to see YACHT at Carleton College's "The Cave." My delight with Bobby Birdman and MNDR and subsequent lack of enthusiasm for YACHT's performance reminded me of when I saw Jose Gonzalez at The Cedar years back: Openers Psapp and Juana Molina blew me away while I was less than impressed with the headliner. It definitely helps that Birdman and MNDR are both total hotties:
































MNDR sounds like the techno-y version of my fave musician, Mikhaela Yvonne Maricich, who performs as The Blow. Both put on one woman shows with undeniably catchy beats.

Attending a show at The Cave is a whole other story that might be helpful to describe here. I sometimes forget that college students aren't really successfully engaging with the rest of the world yet: There was an unusually high percentage of young people kissing each other on the dance floor, awkwardly sitting on couches during this loud electronica concert, and just up to weird stuff generally. I went into the one-stall bathroom shortly before the show started and was greeted by a scene reminiscent of a gossip girl episode: Three young girls were gathered in the small bathroom sort of posturing around. One was leaning against the wall and another had her leg propped up on the windowsill while drinking out of a flask. She said, "oh sorry. We're just commiserating. Or something." My friends and I were further reminded that we were out of place and, well, OLD when we noticed that we were the only folks there who decided it was a good idea to drink the three-two beer they sell at the concessions stand. Everyone else had Nantucket Nectars and plastic water bottles full of colorful liquids, presumably all spiked with Gordon's. The whole scene made the entire experience sort of fascinating and I'd even say delightful; it definitely broke the mold of my average concert-going experience.

The Cave is a strange space for a show. It's small, and unless you're directly in the front, you can't really see anything on stage. There were problems with the sound system: It kept sputtering out and caused many of the stimulation-hungry college students to leave early. When I got on my tip toes to check out what was happening on stage after a few minutes of dead air, I saw MNDR up there just pumping her fist.

I rushed to my emusic account when I got home the night after the show but was disappointed to discover that only one of her songs is available for download. But check this out:



It appears that she'll be popping around Austin next week during SXSW, so I'm trying o convince Angel of Rock and Main Figurehead to check her out.

In other news, here are a few albums that have been on rotation in my iTunes. A lot of this really hits that sweet spot of sleepy and poppy. Pretty good to listen to while working.
Local Natives / Gorilla Manor (2010)
Islands / Vapours (2009)
Grouper / Dragging a Dead Deer up a Hill (2008)
JJ / no3 (2010)


And here are some upcoming shows that I'm super excited about.

THURSDAY MAR 18 @ First Ave / The Big Pink with A Place to Bury Strangers

SATURDAY MAR 20 @ The Cedar / Oddsac: Animal Collective's new visual album. You don't want to miss this, it looks crazy! Band members will be here.

TUESDAY MAR 30 @ The Cedar / Habib Koite

FRIDAY APR 2 @ Triple Rock / High Places, Tobacco, The Hood Internet

SATURDAY APR 3 @ Turf Club / Cymbals Eat Guitars, Bear in Heaven

SUNDAY APR 4 @ The Cedar / Beach House
SUNDAY APR 4 @ First Ave / Passion Pit

Plus The Cedar's West Africa, West Bank shows the following weekend: Bassekou Kouyate and Baaba Maal.