Music

Magnetic Fields Tribute Album

w/ Rachel Yamagata

On March 26, 2010, Dan and Matt Wilson played a long-awaited show together at Minneapolis' Pantages Theater. Although the two brothers had been in bands together since their early teens, and had relentlessly toured the country in Trip Shakespeare, they had only done one concert together between 1994 and this show. The concert was mixed by the brothers' long-time sound mixer Brad Kern and posted in its entirety for download a week after the gig.

In December of 2008, DW felt like the "Free Life" phase was coming to a close, and played a hometown concert to cap off that tumultuous chapter. The show was divided into two sets. In the first, Wilson stood alone with acoustic guitar and sang the story of his musical life through a series of carefully chosen songs from Trip Shakespeare, Semisonic, and his solo phase. In the second set, Wilson was joined by the core of his "Free Life" recording band, Eric Fawcett, John Munson, Steve Roehm, and Brad Gordon, for a rowdy run through mostly recent material. The Minneapolis crowd played the part of noisy musical partner and set-list advisor.

In late 2003, Dan Wilson went into the studio with producer Rick Rubin to continue work on a batch of tracks that Wilson had started the year before. These mostly-live recordings featured a large band composed of some of Minneapolis' greatest musicians. Rubin had heard the rough mixes of the songs through Sheryl Crow, who was featured singing on the song "Sugar." Two years later, after continued work on the album in Wilson's Minneapolis and Rubin's Los Angeles home studios, the two put the finishing touches on the mix. Then the album waited for another two years while Wilson's recording contract swirled from Universal to Warner Bros. to Sony, which finally released the album at the end of 2007.

w/ Semisonic

w/ Semisonic

Track	Title		Length	Lyrics
12	Over My Head (Soundtrack Version) - Semisonic		3:49
11	Act Naturally - Semisonic		3:41
10	Chemistry - Semisonic		4:08
9	Secret Smile - Semisonic		4:37
8	Never You Mind - Semisonic		4:24
7	Singing in My Sleep - Semisonic		4:30
6	Across the Great Divide - Semisonic		3:01
5	If I Run - Semisonic		4:16
4	F.N.T. - Semisonic		3:30
3	Brand New Baby - Semisonic		3:32
13	The Prize - Semisonic		3:54
1	Closing Time - Semisonic		4:33	Closing time - time for you to go out, go out into the world. Closing time - turn the lights up over every boy and every girl. Closing time - one last call for alcohol, so finish your whiskey or beer. Closing time - you don't have to go home but you can't stay here. I know who I want to take me home. I know who I want to take me home. I know who I want to take me home. Take me home... Closing time - time for you to go back to the places you will be from. Closing time - this room won't be open 'til your brothers or you sisters come. So gather up your jackets, and move it to the exits - I hope you have found a friend. Closing time - every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end. Yeah, I know who I want to take me home. I know who I want to take me home. I know who I want to take me home. Take me home... Closing time - time for you to go back to the places you will be from... I know who I want to take me home. I know who I want to take me home. I know who I want to take me home. Take me home... Closing time - every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end...

w/ Semisonic

The last studio recording to be released by the band. Semisonic's 2001 follow-up to their multi-platinum smash "Feeling Strangely Fine," "All About Chemistry" was created in Minneapolis again at Seedy Underbelly studio and in various basements around the city, but this time with the band's engineer Brad Kern manning the sound board, and Semisonic taking the production reins. "She's Got My Number," "I Wish," and "El Matador" seem to point the band in a modern psychedelia/folk direction. Carole King duets with DW on their co-written song, "One True Love."

Track	Title		Length	Lyrics
12	El Matador - Semisonic		05:08
11	Surprise - Semisonic		3:47
10	Get a Grip - Semisonic		3:34
9	One True Love - Semisonic		3:50
8	I Wish - Semisonic		7:58
7	Who’s Stopping You - Semisonic		3:06
6	Sunshine and Chocolate - Semisonic		3:35	All my life I've been looking for The perfect mate And when I finally found the one It was almost too late Underneath the auditorium She showed me why I would have waited all of my life For somebody like Sunshine and chocolate all over me In my mouth and on my tree Round my body under my hat Sunshine and chocolate just... like... that I was alone when I woke up And found the note It said you surely know how to fuck But I gotta go I hope you find someone to take care of And give yourself to And until I get to kiss you again I wish you Sunshine and chocolate every day In your work and in your play In your mouth and down your back I wish you, I wish you, I wish you that Sunshine and chocolate all over you Over everything you do On your body and in your mind Sunshine, chocolate, everything fine Now my eyes are open wide As I travel around Maybe some summer day I'll find Her face in the crowd singing... Sunshine and chocolate everyday In your work and in your play In your mouth and down your back I wish you, I wish you, I wish you that Sunshine and chocolate all over you Over everything you do On your body and in your mind Sunshine, chocolate, everything fine
5	Follow - Semisonic		3:44
4	She’s Got My Number - Semisonic		5:01
3	Act Naturally - Semisonic		3:41
2	Bed - Semisonic		4:04
1	Chemistry - Semisonic		4:08

w/ Semisonic

w/ Semisonic

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w/ Semisonic

w/ Semisonic

w/ Semisonic

w/ Semisonic

w/ Semisonic

Semisonic w/ Mary Loud Lord

w/ Semisonic

w/ Bic Runga

w/ Semisonic

w/ Semisonic

w/ Semisonic

w/ Semisonic

This 1998 album put Semisonic on the map. Platinum or multiplatinum in many countries, and with hit singles "Closing Time," "Secret Smile," and "Singing in My Sleep," the band's so-called "art project" (see "Great Divide") became their biggest hit. Produced by Nick Launay (Nick Cave, PiL, Silverchair, Yeah Yeah Yeahs), recorded at Seedy Underbelly studio in Minneapolis and in a shuttered bicycle shop nearby, the songs on this album can still be heard on radio stations and in bars around the world.

Track	Title		Length	Lyrics
12	Gone to the Movies - Semisonic		3:52
11	She Spreads Her Wings - Semisonic		3:06
10	California - Semisonic		5:29
9	All Worked Out - Semisonic		2:52
8	This Will Be My Year - Semisonic		4:32
7	Completely Pleased - Semisonic		3:19
6	DND - Semisonic		4:11
5	Secret Smile - Semisonic		4:39
4	Never You Mind - Semisonic		4:24
3	Made to Last - Semisonic		5:02
2	Singing in My Sleep - Semisonic		4:30
1	Closing Time - Semisonic		4:33	Closing time - time for you to go out, go out into the world. Closing time - turn the lights up over every boy and every girl. Closing time - one last call for alcohol, so finish your whiskey or beer. Closing time - you don't have to go home but you can't stay here. I know who I want to take me home. I know who I want to take me home. I know who I want to take me home. Take me home... Closing time - time for you to go back to the places you will be from. Closing time - this room won't be open 'til your brothers or you sisters come. So gather up your jackets, and move it to the exits - I hope you have found a friend. Closing time - every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end. Yeah, I know who I want to take me home. I know who I want to take me home. I know who I want to take me home. Take me home... Closing time - time for you to go back to the places you will be from... I know who I want to take me home. I know who I want to take me home. I know who I want to take me home. Take me home... Closing time - every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end...

w/ Semisonic

Recorded in two large chunks, the first half for Elektra Records, and the second half for MCA Records many months later, this album got its name from both the divided nature of the sessions and also from the fact that the band made the album across the continental divide from their Minneapolis homes, in Los Angeles with producer Paul Fox. Wilson is quoted as having thought of this album as an attempt to make a series of hit singles, but when "Great Divide" came out it was lauded by critics for its artistry, and largely ignored by radio and the public. After much touring to promote the record, the band returned to Minneapolis, and Wilson decided that their next work would be an all-out "art project" without regard to commercial appeal.

Pleasure EP was the first release by rock band Semisonic. It was originally released in 1995 and later re-released following the success of their song "Closing Time". The title refers to the band's original name.

w/ Trip Shakespeare

w/ Trip Shakespeare

w/ Trip Shakespeare

w/ Trip Shakespeare

w/ Trip Shakespeare

w/ Matt Wilson