As the Minnesota weather forces us indoors for long periods of time, our tendency to get caught up in our own minds and ruminate is incredibly high. For me personally, being able to pair those moments with music that is open, honest, and raw is incredibly important. Enter songwriter Noah Topliff with the newest single from his band Alexander Natalie , "651."  "651." has us walking in on another conversation, this time over the phone. Topliff is chasing his thoughts around in chorus, singing, "And I know myself, and I don't, want to be here / Runnin' round my head, tryna forget, what it means." An additional layer of vocal harmony from guitarist Samuel Ketcham provides tenderness among the band's expansive folky instrumentation.  For having six members playing multiple instruments, I'm always impressed with the gentle complexity of Alexander Natalie. To put it simply, the music made by this band is absolutely beautiful.  Listen to ...

It's the first (and hopefully not last) Local Music Round-up of 2020! The passage of time is meaningless! My first column of the year tends to end up focusing on what I missed from the last couple of months in 2019, whether it was due to a focus on our year-end content or the fact that I can't manage my time properly. I missed a bunch of great music, so now is the time to catch up. Here's some gems of 2019 (plus one from 2018 and also Oftener). Ben Abrahamson - "Fireflies" (self-released) I can say with full confidence that I never expected to be writing about an acoustic Americana instrumental, but here we are! Ben Abrahamson is a local guitarist with a more extensive background than I think anyone has a right to have - I mean, he studied flamenco in Barcelona. His latest song "Fireflies" is a winding, idyllic snapshot of a humid August sunset. Rich chords trade playful blows with a smiling banjo line. Like the slowly-building clouds before a th...

Alexander Natalie has the ability to put raw emotions into words that are rarely seen among folk artists. Natalie made his powerful debut onto Twin Cities last year with the December release of How Much Could You Ask of Me? which was one of our favorite releases of 2018 . Now Natalie and company are back with their first single of 2019 titled "Nosh." The track opens almost from nothing as a lone acoustic guitar plays a simple chord progression before Natalie's voice makes a haunting appearance with the lyrics "Give it up? I’m old enough/To know it’s not enough/Just to be in love." As those words sink in, the feelings of a relationship that has gone cold begin to wash over you until Natalie closes out the first verse by stating "Enough is enough/And I can't breathe."  Like in much of his work, there are themes of maturity and accepting the future as something you cannot always change in this track. These themes are underscored by incredibly be...