Mark Wheat is heard weekdays 6-10 p.m. on The Current and a DJ with the station since it launched in 2005. He tries to emulate his hero, the late, great BBC DJ John Peel, introducing new music to the audience by mixing it with songs they know and love. Wheat was raised near Cambridge, England, permanently relocating to the United States in 1983. In 1991, he created "Local Sound Department" on KFAI, which was awarded "Best Local Radio Show" by the Minnesota Music Academy in 1996-1998. He spent 18 months at Zone 105, hosting an overnight shift, and "Across The Pond," a weekly specialty show playing music from all over the world. In 1998 he was hired as director of student programming at the University of Minnesota's Radio K and created a weekly magazine show, "The Music Lovers Club." He won the City Pages' "Best AM Radio Personality" in 2004; and "Best FM Radio Personality" in 2009. Between 1999 and 2003, he was a resident DJ at First Avenue and The Lounge for which he was awarded the honor of "Best Club DJ" in 2000-2001 by the Minnesota Music Academy.
Oxford-based quintet Foals make willfully out-there and original indie-rock that varies from spastic dance-rock to angular post-punk sounds to intricate experimental passages.
The Robots are coming! The robots are coming!! Daft Punk, notorious for wearing helmets when they perform as if robotic, have a huge hit on their hands.
After the great reception our audience has given Vampire Weekend and the high profile gigs they have been getting with Steve Buscemi filming their show, it will be interesting to see where they chart when the album comes out.
Saint Paul's Nicholas David Mrozinski has been a fixture of the local music scene for a decade, with several albums under his belt and frequent live shows in the area to bolster his Twin Cities rep. But last year he was catapulted to nationwide fame thanks to a stint on season three of NBC's The Voice.
A handful of early tracks from Leagues' 2011 debut EP stirred up some blog attention, and in January of this year they returned with a debut full-length, You Belong Here. The band's solemn, moody indie sound has earned comparisons to the National and others.
Pickwick, whose style is a fusion of raw, garage-y indie blues-rock and retro-licious R&B/soul, just released the full-length album Can't Talk Medicine and continue to build buzz with national touring.
Who is Diane Young? She's the subject of the Number One! Or is she? Do you hear "dying young" too? Poetic license in the middle of National Poetry Month?
Warmly received by the crowd, Dawes broke to talk to Mark Wheat a couple times during their five-song set, covering topics ranging from frontman Taylor Goldsmith's hesitance to try the Minnesota State Fair's trademark junk food and the mystery of how the band were chosen to open for Bob Dylan this summer.
