To the chase I cut. It has been a few weeks, and I feel that we are too far behind for me to piss away words telling you some ber cool (while entirely arbitrary) story of how I spent my spring break. OK, I will just say that while the vast majority of college students spent their time on beaches sippin’ adult beverages, I was in North Dakota.

Scoff if you must, but Fargo. is slowly evolving into the New York City of the Midwest (not really, but seriously, it is). Moving on.

For this issue, I have three equations that we will take a look at, so here it goes.

1) Matisyahu + Novelty = Not That Good = Me Being Frustrated. The mass populace is so enamored with the idea of novelty that it can look past the fact that whatever is being disseminated isn’t that great or original. Enter Matisyahu. A Hasidic Jew who raps over hip hop and reggae beats. You take the phrase “Hasidic Jew” out of that last sentence and replace it with the word “dude” and nobody would give two hoots about this guy.

Let me break this down for you. It is exactly like everything else that is some sort of quasi-interesting paradox, such as a squirrel that can play the accordion or chocolate-covered poo. I mean, what can be generalized about squirrels is that they are fuzzy, cute and like acorns. So one that plays an instrument is wicked awesome since the accordion is out of the norm. Poo, in its natural state, isn’t chocolate-covered, so it has to be pretty swell, right? Nay.
Back to the matter at hand, I am willing to put at least six to seven dollars down on the fact that MTV wouldn’t have anything to do with this guy if it wasn’t for his religious affiliation. His music is marginal at best, but I do give him props for sticking to rapping about what he believes in despite all the attention, which is a rarity these days. A better alternative to Matisyahu is to take all the Tribe Called Quest and Mos Def on your iPod and shuffle it up with some Bob Marley.

2) Eau Claire + No Music Scene = Not Cool = Me Being Frustrated. Allow me to explain. As stated above, I spent four glorious nights in Fargo over spring break visiting my best friend/cousin. During that time, I went to three concerts in three consecutive nights, all of which were headlined by fantastic up-and-coming bands. On Friday night I had the privilege of seeing Hockey Night, a band from St Paul. Their live show was fantastic, and they rocked my proverbial face off. One of the other nights, I caught an act entitled the Octopus Project based out of Austin, Texas that was reminiscent of Explosions in the Sky fused with some sweet electronica elements.

Anyway, what I am trying to get at is I have lived here for over five years now, and I know this will offend some people, but I am getting sick of Pat McCurdy being the only thing that gets people to music venues in this area. If Fargo can get bands like The Wolf Parade and Rogue Wave to make a stop while on tour, there is no excuse for Eau Claire not getting with the program. I am no geography buff, but to me it seems like a natural stop for bands that are on tour between Minneapolis and Milwaukee. It is official, I am going to start booking and promoting shows ’cause nobody else in town seems to know how to do it. Booyah.

3) Band of Horses + Headphones Firmly Placed On Ears = Me Being Very Delighted. If one were to look at my arms as of late, you might be able to see track marks of where I tried to take the Band of Horses album “Everything All the Time” and shoot it straight into my veins (not really, but seriously). These guys have been exactly what I needed to hear as of late. There are times when you get down, and there’s music that just cheers you up (and as Coolio once said, “you gotta gotta get up to get down”… which doesn’t really apply here, but a great quote nonetheless) and this has been it for me. For lovers of The Shins and My Morning Jacket, this album is a necessity. If you don’t know who either of those bands are, look up and gently remove the stone that you have been living under. If you are not sure about risking your money on one of my recommendations then download the tracks “Monsters” and “St. Augustine,” and believers you will be.

Sorensen is a senior advertising major and a columnist for The Spectator. “Musicology 211” appears every Monday.