How Was The Radio Homegrown Critic's Picks Show?

Last night was the annual Homegrown Critic's Picks Show. Despite its move to Drive 105 from KQRS last year, it still takes place in the same building as both stations are ABC Radio/Disney vassals. I'll venture to say it was even more fun than last year's show, even though the knife fight Ross Raihala promised didn't materialize and the KQ folks made my "Welcome" sign and it said "Dennis de Young, How Was The Show."

Here's a photo of the motley crew in attendence this year.



Left to right, that's Steve McPherson of Pulse Twin Cities, Mei Young of Drive 105, Chris Bahn of the Onion AV Club, Lindsey Thomas of City Pages, Ross Raihala of the Pioneer Press, Chronic of Drive 105 (kneeling), me (red jacket and scarf), Chris Riemenschneider of The Star Tribune, Rich Horton of Rift Magazine, Dave Campbell (black cap) of Homegrown, and Paul Bringartner of Homegrown.

And here's what the critic's selected as their "picks" to represent part of what happened in local music in 2005:

• Chris Riemenschneider (Star Trib): STNNNG! - "A Topography of Biols" from Dignified Sissy
• David de Young (HowWasTheShow): Big Ditch Road - "Ghosts" from Suicide Note Reader's Companion
• Lindsey Thomas (City Pages): Gay Beast - "Multi-Purpose Anti-Form" from Gay Beast EP.
• Steve McPherson (Pulse Twin Cities): The Fanstastic Merlins - "Lenny" from The Fantastic Merlin's Live
• Ross Raihala (Pioneer Press): The Deaths - "See You Tomorrow" from Choir Invisible
• Chris Bahn (Onion AV Club): Low - "Cue The Strings" from The Great Destroyer
• Rich Horton (Rift Magazine): Chariots - "Hips Unite" from Congratulations (America, North!)

Podcasts of the interviews with each of the critics should be available on the Homegrown site soon. Subscribe using iTunes to be notified. [Added 1/13/06, here's the link to the podcast.]

And you won't get rid of these folks off Homegrown so easily. Each of us recorded "drops" while at the station that you'll be hearing throughout the year, you know, stuff like "This is David de Young from HowWasTheShow.com, and I listen to Homegrown to cure my hangovers" etc.

There's some more chatter about the program in a post over in the Music Media forum.