On a recent trek to Minnesota to visit family and do a bit of research on experimental cities, I knew exactly where the soundtrack for my journey around the state would be coming from: 89.3 FM, The Current. I discovered some great new music while listening to the station, but one song stuck out as particularly Minne-pop, if you will: Northward's "Marble Garden."

The Current is Minnesota Public Radio's indie music channel, and they generally have a solidly eclectic line-up. I have vague memories of the DJ mentioning something about Northward having a completely stripped down production set-up. It might even be just one guy in his basement with a four-track and a drum machine; that kind of thing. Or it could just be a robot that gained sentience and now makes music solely for Minnesota radio stations. I have no idea, and frankly I don't really care.

All I know is that despite it being the middle of July, this song somehow conjured the feeling of slowly trying to push out a car that's been stuck in a foot of snow. And I guess I mean that in the best way possible. Northward, indeed.

[YouTube - Amazon - Bandcamp]
