MML Indie Classics (Vol. 3): Dü Hüskers / The Twin Cities Replay Zen Arcade

"Spring 1986, and two of San Francisco's more dedicated scene chicks are running up and down their shotgun apartment, goofing on perspective. Second acid trip, fourth hour. the tweak is peaking. They whirl into the living room, giggling, holding onto walls and their tall boy buds. "Would you mind if I put on Zen?" asks one (let's call her Jill). the other (uh... that's me) winces, considers. She's been hiding from Hüsker Dü's Zen Arcade since it came out, afraid of it, really. To angry, too dense, too dark. What the hell, maybe it's time. Jill drops the needle, second song, fourth side. Terri drops to the floor, pinned by the jogging purpose of the drums. They dig in for the journey. Suddenly a wave breaks over their heads and drags them out to sea. It's "Reoccurring Dreams," and by the time those 13:47 whine up, our ladies have learned to surf."



















I first discovered the music of Hüsker Dü as a young teenager shortly after the 1984 released double album Zen Arcade. This one album changed everything I thought my young ears knew about music and would eventually shape my present-day tastes in music. It would also have a far reaching effect on plenty of bands who would, in turn, end up influencing today's current crop of indie rock artists. If you had asked me 20-some years ago, I would have told you the exact same thing I will explain now... After doing some searching through my semi-vast collection of music, I have finally realized Zen Arcade as easily being my favorite album of all time. Surprisingly enough, only 9 years after the original release of Zen Arcade, a 1993 tribute album was released on the now defunct Synapse Records label with various local Minneapolis/Saint Paul, Minnesota musicians loosely interpreting the songs from this great album. The above and below quoted San Francisco "scene chick" descriptions of a Zen Arcade experience were taken from the liner notes of today's featured CD: Dü Hüskers: Twin Cities Replay Zen Arcade. We are familiar with a handful of bands who took part in this project, but if you have any specific information on the musicians who contributed then and are still active in the Minneapolis music scene (and/or beyond) please give us an update. We would absolutely love you for it!


















"Back at that San Francisco apartment, the two girls are burrowing into the sound, listening with every cell. They've gone back to the beginning, side one, song one, and discovered the boy's life at the heart of the record. Heads down, hands talking, they're translating to each other: "Oh god --- his parents... it's so fucked up! But he loves them... Shit, don't fall in with the Krishnas!... Oh Jill, he's gone into the army!" By the time "Reoccurring Dreams" completes the cycle, they're speaking in tongues: They are Hüsker Dü and Hüsker Dü is them. And they know that the eye-watering whine that's pinched off at the end of side four continues somewhere else, will reel out forever, is in fact always present in the whir of thoughts and dreams.

And here it comes again.

--- Terri Sutton
Minneapolis, MN 1993"

From the 1993 tribute album Dü Hüskers: The Twin Cities Replay Zen Arcade:

MP3: Hammerhead - Something I Learned Today
MP3: The Mighty Mofos - Broken Home, Broken Heart
MP3: Prest Abestus - Never Talking To You Again
MP3: Muskellunge - Chartered Trips
MP3: Lies Incorporated/TVBC - Dreams Reoccurring
MP3: Superball 63 - Indecision Time
MP3: Dogfight - Hare Krsna
MP3: God's Favorite Band - Beyond The Threshold
MP3: Psuedonymphs - Pride
MP3: Salbando - I'll Never Forget You
MP3: Dylan Hicks + 3 Pesos - The Biggest Lie
MP3: Janitor Joe - What's Going On
MP3: Vertigo - Masochism World
MP3: Zuzu's Petals - Standing By The Sea
MP3: Walt Mink - Somewhere
MP3: Flour - One Step At A Time
MP3: The Blue Up? - Pink Turns To Blue
MP3: Balloon Guy - Newest Industry
MP3: Willie Wisely Trio - Monday Will Never Be The Same
MP3: Arcwelder - Whatever
MP3: Teenage Larvae - The Tooth Fairy And The Princess
MP3: Big Trouble House - Turn On The News
MP3: TVBC - Reoccuring Dreams
MP3: (Bonus Track) The Hang-Ups - Eight Miles High