Pick Six is a half-dozen cool things in music, from two points of view.
Rocco Bonello, MyTalk 107.1 creative director:
1 Fruit Bats and Vetiver, Icehouse. Two out-of-town acts I've been meaning to see for years but keep missing, they are playing together this weekend (and outdoors, no less!). I'm looking forward to hearing both bands' originals as well as their well-curated covers.
2 Ween, Surly Festival Field. I haven't seen Dean and Gene Ween play outdoors since their infamous 1999 Minnesota Zoo show, and here's hoping this thrice-delayed concert on Saturday can live up to my cloudy memories of that beautiful mess.
3 The Ringer Podcast: "60 Songs That Explain the '90s" on Spotify. Writer Rob Harvilla monologues about one-hit wonders, gigantic hits and obscure faves that help us remember that the '90s weren't as sucky as we might remember. It's been fun to learn songs' back stories and revisit the jams that were the soundtrack to my 20s.
Jon Bream, Star Tribune critic:
1 Jennifer Hudson in "Respect." The Aretha Franklin biopic's script and direction are flawed but J Hud is, not surprisingly, spectacular as an actress and especially a singer, giving her spin on the Queen of Soul's songs. Watching her in the recording studio working her way through "I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You)" and "Respect" brings goose bumps.
2 Adia Victoria, "Magnolia Blues." In this haunting, hypnotizing, banjo-spiked Southern gothic blues, the South Carolina singer reclaims her Southern roots and the symbolism — good (the beauty) and bad (lynching)— of the magnolia tree. Can't wait to hear her new album, "A Southern Gothic," out Sept. 17.
