The Current

Great Music Lives Here ®
Listener-Supported Music
Donate Now
Local Current Blog

Bob Dylan, Aaron Gorton, Kari Tauring, John Mapes: This week’s Minnesota music releases

by Jay Gabler

May 17, 2016

Bob Dylan: Fallen Angels

On Friday, Northern Minnesota native Bob Dylan releases his 37th studio album — which also marks his second consecutive collection of 20th-century standards done Dylan-style. Shadows in the Night (2015) had Dylan and his crack band sharing their interpretations of songs made famous by Frank Sinatra, and on the new Fallen Angels he takes on classics like "Melancholy Mood," "That Old Black Magic," and, of course, "Young at Heart." Dylan turns 75 next Tuesday; listen for 75 Dylan tracks curated and hosted by Bill DeVille on our Local Current stream, starting at noon on May 24.

Aaron Gorton and the Dot Dot Dot: Something So Beautiful

[bandcamp width=350 height=442 track=398914031 size=large bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5 tracklist=false]

Aaron Gorton, formerly of Sweet Potato Project, is exploring "the craft of indie-vibro art-rock" with the Dot Dot Dot, releasing a new album called Something So Beautiful this Friday at the Cabooze. "Wash Away," a single you've heard on the Local Show, keeps the BPM chill and the falsetto fine.

Kari Tauring: Ljos and Svart

[soundcloud url="https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/253798431" params="auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=true" width="100%" height="450" iframe="true" /]

Ljos and Svart translate to "Light" and "Dark" in Old Norse, and Kari Tauring knew it was a good omen when she completed her Kickstarter for the two albums "on the last full moon of 2015." The two albums are sung in Norwegian, English, and Finnish; the soundscapes include an "electro-runic interpretation of an Norwegian runestone" and "a 17-minute improvised stav (stick percussion) spirit journey." If you're ready to take the trip, join Tauring and Drew Miller on Sunday at the Bryant-Lake Bowl.

John Mapes: Where We End Up

[bandcamp width=350 height=470 album=3373782474 size=large bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5 tracklist=false]

Singer-songwriter John Mapes submitted his new music to The Current, describing himself simply as a "Twin Cities local curmudgeon." That's underselling himself a bit — in the style of Paul Westerberg, whose "Run for the Country" Mapes covers on his fuzzed-out new collection Where We End Up. Before going solo, Mapes played in the science fiction band the Nick Atoms and contributed to the soundtrack for Mondo Collecto (2006), a cult classic that's been called the best movie ever made in Minnesota.

Clean Water Land & Legacy Amendment
This activity is made possible in part by the Minnesota Legacy Amendment’s Arts & Cultural Heritage Fund.