Gallery Spotlight: The Soap Factory

It’s not often that a soap factory slated for demolition can be bought for one dollar and converted into a cutting-edge art space. Yet that’s exactly how Minneapolis’ most comprehensive contemporary art space — appropriately named The Soap Factory — came to be.

The organization began in 1988 and was initially called No Name Exhibitions by the group of artists that founded it in order to emphasize creating innovative art that wasn’t being shown in Minneapolis’ more conventional art establishments. “There were not many independent, scrappy, non-institutionalized art venues. There was the Walker Art Center. There was the Minneapolis Art Institute,” says Katherine Rochester, the Soap Factory’s Program Manager. “But The Soap Factory was committed to the fact that they called themselves ‘no name’ because they were interested in having a different kind of artist for a different kind of space.”

Constants to release If Tomorrow the War on limited-edition vinyl

Post-rock shoegazers Constants are set to release their third full-length album, If Tomorrow The War, on September 7 via Science of Silence. Justin K. Broadrick (Jesu/Godflesh) produced the record, and much of the recording was done at guitarist/vocalist Will Benoit’s barn turned solar-powered recording studio. The new album features guest appearances from Andrew Neufeld (Comeback Kid, Sights & Sounds) and Mike Hill (Tombs).

Nails joins Southern Lord Records

Freshly signed to a new label, Nails joins the likes of Sunn O))), Pelican, and Goatsnake under heavy metal giant Southern Lord Records with the re-release of their album, Unsilent Death. Comparable to a cross between Amrep bands of the nineties and Cro-Mags Age of Quarrel riffage, Nails’ severe sound is brutal, vicious, and raw, hurtling at hypersonic speeds.

A new release is in the works under the new label for early 2011, but in the meantime Nails is taking to the road with fellow label-mates in the Southern Lord-sponsored The Power of the Riff Festival in LA on August 8. A cross-country tour is also scheduled for early September.

Art invades Chicago’s public transit

The third annual installation of the world’s largest mobile art gallery, Art on Track, will make its way to the Chicago Loop on August 7. Passengers will have the opportunity to board the eight-car train at the Adams and Wabash platform from 5-10 p.m. Participating artists were handpicked based on their control of new artistic methods in their fields. They will have six hours to produce captivating and provocative work to be experienced by the public.

J.Tillman on tour with Phosphorescent

The tour between Seattle folk artist J. Tillman — a recent-ish addition to Fleet Foxes — and alt-country/folk group Phosphorescent started earlier this week, with their first stop in LA on Tuesday.

Tillman’s 7th full-length record, Singing Ax, was recorded in three days in February of this year. On the album, simplistic and contemplative, third-person narratives float over acoustic guitar mainly without accompaniment, with the exception of a few tracks including mellotron and drum machine.

J.Tillman: “Three Sisters”

J. Tillman: \”Three Sisters\”

World in Stereo: Orchestre Poly-Rythmo interview in Chicago

Leading up to seeing Orchestre Poly-Rythmo in Chicago earlier this month, I felt like a kid waiting for Christmas. The same frantic anticipation that I had previously felt for video games and action figures was now inspired by a Beninese funk band. But not just any Beninese funk band — Le Tout Puissant Orchestre Poly Rythmo de Cotonou, the kings of groove.

The Orchestre was the first real African music I had ever heard. They are the reason I’ve been obsessed with Africa’s musical output for the better part of two years. They’re my Pink Floyd, my Nirvana, my Social Distortion; they’re one of those bands that turns fans into fanatics.

Zine Scene: Shortcomings

When I first read Adrian Tomine’s graphic novel Shortcomings more than a year ago, I was struck by two things: the comic’s sensitive and honest portrayal of modern race relations, and the wonderfully clean art style. The former proceeds mostly from Tomine himself, a fourth generation Japanese American. The latter is strongly inspired by modern masters of the medium like Daniel Clowes and the Hernandez brothers, and it results in evocative illustration that recalls classic comic art of the 1950s and even Roy Lichtenstein.