Having a hard time shaking off Minneapolis. Keep coming across links from up there.

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WE WANT WE WANT WE WANT: Goddammit if their latest long player isn’t just painful as anything we’ve heard in a long time, with all those keyboards and pitch-perfect production shit, but the good pullers of Aesthetic Apparatus go and make a rock poster for those Black Keys, and it makes me want to listen to those first couple albums a couple times over. But not that new one, or the one before it, or before that? Damn. I tried so hard with ‘em. Sorry. I’m a bad person. I know. But hell, that poster rules. Buy it.

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THE GREATEST BAND OF THOSE 80s: An interview with a little band from Minneapolis called The Replacements.

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ONE OF THE BEST NAME IN THE HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSE: Hamburger Help Me. Incredible. Ryno recommends this one. Hmmm.

I can think of precisely one addition to this one.

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UP IN BRAINERD: Babe got a makeover.

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WE’RE NOT WORTHY: I met a couple of wide-eyed nice kids from Minnesota’s The House Boardshop, and they went home and wrote about it. I mean, shit, pretty much the “most-glowing” assortment of words on us, ever. Kinda blown away. We’re not that nice, but hell, run with it for the moment. Thanks, guys! Great to meet you. Move West!

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ONE WEEK OUT: This one is in Detroit, which is roughly 600 miles from Minnesota. Next Thursday I’ll be at 1515 Broadway downtown, telling my little story.

A tale about graphic design, making a living, going for broke, thinking things up, rolling the dice, survival, independence, loving where you live, having respect for the guys who came before you, looking at things and other juicy subjects. Basically, I’m going to cover EVERYTHING. All the warts and moles. This one is called “Tall Tales From A Large Man” and we’re lucky enough to have Detroit AIGA and Team Detroit behind us making it happen. And it looks like Contagious North America is on board too. That’s awesome. Let’s pack ‘em in, and then see how fast I can drive ‘em out. Reilly, you Boblo beast, this one is coming up fast!

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ON THE PLAYER:

01. Seawhores - Opus Magnanimous
02. Hammerhead - Duh, The Big City
03. Replacements - Let It Be
04. Gay Witch Abortion - Maverick
05. Hüsker Dü - Land Speed Record