Minnesota’s Cloud Cult has been kicking out organic jams for nearly two decades now, penning experimental baroque pop tunes, churning out 100% organic merch and album packaging, and greening up the music industry in general with Earthology Records, a nonprofit music organization that’s currently operating out of a building “powered by geothermal energy and built partially from reclaimed wood and recycled plastic.” Oh and the band includes “live painters.” Over the years there have been too many facets of Cloud Cult to count but, at the core is really quirkily earnest indie pop with an unquantifiable soul. This Tuesday released Unplug, a full-length album featuring acoustic renditions of some of their favorite selections of their back catalogue. And this Friday, April 18th, they will be performing at our very own Prince Music Theater (The last time I was here was for the US premiere of Melancholia.) as part of the Unplug Tour, which has the band performing two full sets each each night: one acoustic and one electric.
I recently got a chance to chat with the Cloud Cult mainman Craig Minowa about their new album and their current US tour. He explains to me that it came about when they were working on Love, their tenth studio album, which came out last March: “When we were working on the Love album we did a few rehearsals back in the woods, with no plugs or anything and then we tried the live show out in Seattle at a nature festival and we played a few more acoustic shows, but we ended up leaving the stage and still feeling like we were ready to rock and wanting to indulge in our fiery self.” Minowa also tells me that the shows are the most comprehensive of the band’s career: “In the past tours we’ve had openers, so we’ve had a shorter set, but this set is almost three hours, comprised of some of the crowd favorites, combined with some of the stuff we really want to play.” As for what the band has planned after their US dates wrap in May, Minowa says, “We’re gonna do some overseas touring this summer and do some festivals and then get back to the studio.”
[youtube http://youtu.be/kbPh2wBEhAw]
