We did it (sort of)! Ear Coffee survived it's first full year, and there were only a half dozen or so hiatuses of varying lengths. As the hell-year known as 2018 is closing, we (as undoubtedly professional music critics) are yet again forced by the will of God to make lists of the music we liked. There were a lot of great local albums that were released this year that we did not cover for this list, but that doesn't mean they aren't worth listening to. Please enjoy the following selection of Wes and Joe's favorite local records of 2018. Check out our podcast episode covering many of these releases too - link at the bottom of the article! Nick Check & the Dead Century - "One More Year" Single It's rare for something released in January to sound as fresh as it first did at the end of the year. This single from the Dead Century has stayed true as some of the best material from the year. The band showcased all of their talents on both sides of t...

Minneapolis indie-rockers Calvin Heights are no more. The announcement came Monday, December 3 in a post to social media. In the post, frontman Brett Carey said, "Jordan (Wipf) and I thank you all for listening and supporting what we've done and we hope to see you in the future with something else. But as for now, our lives [are] changing and we desire to change with it." Calvin Heights released their debut record titled Self Untitled in May of 2014. It featured a more indie rock/indie folk-influenced sound.  Over the next four years and four releases, the band's sound (and line up) expanded and changed as elements of noise and experimental music made its way to the forefront. The 2017 EP "The Possession of the Deer's Feet" marked a definite shift in Calvin Heights sound. The Possession of the Deer's Feet by Calvin Heights What is meant to be a prologue to their third full-length Worst Calligraphy , the EP confused and intrigued fans...

Last year, Calvin Heights released Worst Calligraphy , one of their most ambitious albums to date. The album is paired with The Possession of the Deer's Feet: Prologue , an EP that was released earlier in 2017 which marked a definite shift in the band's sound. The indie rock influence that characterized the first two records was left behind for something more experimental. By this point in the band's career, frontman Brett Carey acted as the sole creative force. He wrote and produced almost everything with the help of his longtime friend Jordan Wipf to cover drumming duties. Worst Calligraphy  started out as an EP but grew as Carey started pouring out his thoughts, feelings, and emotions. It was slightly unkempt and lived in a much more abstract world, but that was the charm of the album.  The ambiguous nature of the album kept the listener on their toes while they worked through it. When You Think of Me / Seasons Change by Calvin Heights Calvin Heights releas...

The songwriting partnership of Brett Carey and Jordan Wipf has become an integral part of  Calvin Heights  sound. When the band's direction shifted on their last release Worst Calligraphy , Wipf and Carey were still trying to figure how to mix experimental music with a traditional song format. The pair really hit their stride with their upcoming album Talented Sun . Wipf said, "Brett's head is full of feedback and screaming. It's my job to take that sound and help shape it into something more accessible." During the production of 2017's Worst Calligraphy, Wipf was less hands on. Carey wrote and recorded most of the music and Wipf came in to play drums; however, this time around they spent a lot of time planning the story line and sound of the overall record. Talented Sun is mostly an album about change. Wipf and Carey are both in the middle of big life changes. Wipf just got engaged and is working on planning a wedding, and Carey is moving to the nex...

Photo by Joe Keyport Calvin Heights have finally given us what we want. After teasing fans with a stream of new music for the last six months, the Minneapolis experimental band have decided on a release date for their fourth LP, Talented Sun . The record comes out on August 10, 2018. It will include the previously released singles " Era Vernacular " and " What You Think Of Me/Seasons Change ." Preorder the album here . Check out the track list and video for "Era Vernacular" below. Last year, Calvin Heights released Worst Calligraphy , one of Ear Coffee's favorite albums of the year. Talented Sun 1. Man of Your Dreams 2. Clouds 3. Seasons Change 4. (Wasted Sun) 5. Cold as Your Flowers 6. Era Vernacular 7. When You Think of Me 8. (Keep the Light On) 9. Cacophony 10. (Reprise) 11. Talented Sun  

You didn't think we would make it to six plus episodes did you? To be honest, neither did we. To celebrate this momentous occasion we dug out an interview that Ear Coffee's Joe Keyport did with Calvin Heights in September of 2017. The band had just released Worst Calligraphy and had just begun to work on their  newly announced album Talented Sun . This interview really pulls back the curtain on the band as frontman Brett Carey discusses the shift of the bands sound from indie rock to experimental rock and his dislike of the earlier work that the band did. You can find the podcast on iTunes , Podbean , and on Stitcher .

 Taken from the band's Facebook page. Releasing an album, an EP, and a single in less than a year has simply not been enough for the mad scientists behind the indie rock band Calvin Heights. Today they released a new music video and announced a new record titled Talented Sun . The single is called "Era Vernacular," and it is a track that bridges the gap between Worst Calligraphy and single released in December of last year . It has all the dissonance and chaos one would find in a recent Calvin Heights release, but it is stuffed into more of a focused package. Talented Sun does not have a release date yet, but we can hope that the band won't make us wait to long. Watch the music video below.

Twin Cities indie rockers Calvin Heights released two new songs "When You Think Of Me" and "Seasons Change." Both songs have all the noisy yet catchy earmarks of their previous record Worst Calligraphy , but they have a more crystalline structure to them. "When You Think Of Me" is the upbeat song of the two. It's energetic guitar paired with Jordan Wipf's drum parts drive frontman Brett Carey's haunting vocal. The second song, "Seasons Change," is a morose answer to the first song. It feels like a track from their EP The Possession of The Deers Feet: Prologue   because of the songs chaotic and plodding nature. It's almost like the listener needs to be wearing corpse paint to listen to this song. These songs mark the beginning of something different for the band. In a statement to Ear Coffee, Brett Carey said, "These songs we're working on are more grounded than Worst Calligraphy was. They get to the point more. But ...

Minneapolis indie rockers Calvin Heights played an intense set at Driftwood Char Bar Thursday night. The band is playing shows around the Twin Cities in support of their album Worst Calligraphy   which was released in August of this year. The noisy atmosphere created on Worst Calligraphy translates to an even better experience in person. The music comes to life when played in front of people. Their set began with frontman Brett Carey sitting on the floor with a bag over his head. He sat rocking back and forth as his guitar fed back into his amplifier. The rest of the band followed suit until they kicked into their first song "3/7". The bag soon came off when the band continued into the next songs. Taking inspiration from The Pixies, Calvin Heights uses dynamics heavily in their set. The band would be creating as much noise as they could with Brett and fellow guitarist Sam wailing away on their guitars with drummer Jordan Wipf bashing away and then the band would be n...

Brett Carey and Jordan Wipf of the band Calvin Heights sat down with Philo T Farnsworth host of the radio show Local Juke Joint. The two, among many things, dove into the process behind their new album Worst Calligraphy . In a teaser clip released on September 18th, Brett and Jordan discuss the mean behind the music for their song "Alone." The video is striking, intense, and unsettling right from the get go. It depicts Carey in a denim shirt, jeans, and a bag over his head dancing under a spot light. The track itself is from the EP The Possession Of The Deers Feet: Prologue . The EP is a companion to Worst Calligraphy and it has material on it that is heavier and and a little more left of center than material on the album. Many who watched the video thought Carey was depicting his death. Brett explains in the clip that the images came more about him hiding parts of his body that he doesn't like. He didn't see it as him depicting his death. Jordan went on to e...

Minneapolis indie rockers, Calvin Heights released their newest album Worst Calligraphy today (August 25th). This album marks a change up in the bands sound from the more straight ahead indie rock that was featured on the previous releases, Self Untitled and Tales of the Confident Man . Worst Calligraphy isn't a total departure from the sound they cultivated over the last releases; it's more frontman Brett Carey taking all his influences, add in a love for experimental music, and mixing them into a slurry of musical expression. This album features more than just the usual instrumentation found on a Calvin Heights record. There are a lot more strings, horns, and keys to help create a chaotic, dense sonic landscape. This album focuses more on creating the perfect mood than writing a typical song. An EP titled The Possession of the Deers Feet: Prologue was released at the beginning of 2017. The EP explored the more experimental nature of Worst Calligraphy,  and it is a ...