The Twilight Hours Album Release Party with The Starfolk at Cedar Cultural Center on 9/18/09

By: David de Young

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John Munson and Matt Wilson of The Twilight Hours - Photo by David de Young (See the full set of photos here.)

On a beautiful and unseasonably warm fall Friday evening on the West Bank, the Cedar Cultural Center filled up with seasoned Twin Cities music fans eager to help celebrate the release of the new album from John Munson and Matt Wilson.  The two musicians originally united in the '80s as Trip Shakespeare and did time in other acclaimed local acts such as The Flops (from about 2001 to 2005), ultimately to land together yet again in 2009 as The Twilight Hours. Their new CD, Stereo Night is a gem, and it's not an exaggeration to call most of its tracks memorable, standout songs. In their own tongue-in-cheek review of the album, Munson and Wilson called it a “work of towering beauty and sensitivity” and “a work for the ages!” (And yes, journalists are usually lazy enough to just take the words as the band offers instead of thinking up their own, but I feel compelled to add that the immediacy of these songs will grab you instantly, and the melodies will stick with you from your first listen.)

Opening Friday’s show was The Starfolk, the latest project from another musician who's been on the Twin Cities music scene for quite some time, Brian Tighe of the Hangups.  Tighe along with his wife Allison LaBonne most recently performed together in The Owls. The Starfolk is rounded out by cellist Jacqueline Ultan of Jello Slave.  After hearing Friday's half hour-long opening set from them I am eager for recorded versions of more of these songs to become available.  The Starfolk's music is melodic, frequently Bowie-esque psychedelic folk with a strong pop leaning full of discordant surprises and breathy Nico-like vocals from LaBonne.  (The group even covered the Velvet Underground song “Candy Says" in their set Friday.)  On October 16th at The Cedar The Starfolk will celebrate the release of The Lemon-Lime EP, a 7" vinyl double-debut release with Typsy Panthre on the MPLS LTD label. 

As splendid as The Starfolk's set was, the night belonged to The Twilight Hours. I'd first encountered them at the Mad Ripple Hoot in April of 2009 when Munson and Wilson had performed a few songs while on route to one of five shows they performed during a month-long residency at the Nomad Pub.  Friday night at the Cedar many people were seeing them for the first time, though in talking to the people seated around me, I learned most were old fans going all the way back to the Trip Shakespeare days. 

Before the show got underway, the band showed it's recently completed video by Phil Harder on The Cedar's big screen.  (You can watch that video soon on the band's webpage www.thetwilighthours.com.)

John Munson of The Twilight Hours

In addition to Munson and Wilson, The Twilight Hours live band is comprised of Steve Roehm on drums, Jacques Wait (who also helped to produce the record) on guitar, Dave Salmela on piano, and Friday's show featured a few special appearances by Joe Savage on pedal steel. The band opened with "My Return," one of the aforementioned standout songs from the record, and over the course of the set they played a dozen and a half songs, including all 10 album tracks. Before playing, "Dreams" Matt Wilson joked about a June interview with Mary Lucia of 89.3 The Current in which she had pointedly asked, "Is it the hit?" Wilson admitted that this ("Dreams") would probably be it. The shimmering and pretty song is indeed a favorite of many who have heard the record, and as the album's first track, it gets its hooks in you right away and the album never lets you go.

The Twilight Hours rocked with cool restraint through the first part of the set with energy building as they went on. Steve Roehm sometimes rose from his seat at the drums as the songs ended, and there were opportunities for Jacques Wait to lay down several spectacular guitar solos to much audience applause. Of the many set highlights for me, one was Munson singing a re-worked version of a song from 1994 called "Call Me Up," (not on the new album) which I had had the pleasure of hearing at the Hoot in April.  (HowWasTheShow has video of the April rendition of that song and a few others here.)

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Location Info: Cedar Cultural Center
Artist Info: The Twilight Hours

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