Portland, Oregon's experimental-rock trio Menomena is always full of surprises. Since self-releasing its debut, I Am The Fun Blame Monster!, in 2000, it's been a solid 10-year career full of innovative music. Over the past decade, the perfectionists fuse guitar, glockenspiel, bass, baritone and alto sax, keys, percussion and vocals, playing several instruments at once and swapping between songs. At their aid is their very own homemade computer program, which loops their instrumental riffs together, allowing Menomena to delicately mix punk and funk rhythms with eerie, deep melodies, and gorgeous vocal harmonies. Clearly their process is an intricate one, but it makes for quite a spectacular live experience.
With several albums to their name and a Grammy nomination for "Best Recording Package," the indie rock veterans have returned with their first record in four years, Mines. The follow-up to their critically acclaimed third release, Friend and Foe, Mines finds Menomena taking a much darker, serious route.
Listen to the band speak with World Cafe host David Dye about transforming its studio creations into live music.
Check out the playlist:
| Vampire Weekend | Giving up the Gun | Contra |
| John Legend & The Roots | Wake Up | Wake Up |
| The Cure | In Between Days | Staring at the Sea - The Singles |
| The National | Bloodbuzz Ohio | High Violet |
| Menomena | Dirty Cartoons | Recorded Live for the World Cafe |
| Menomena | Queen Black Acid | Recorded Live for the World Cafe |
| Menomena | Killemall | Recorded Live for the World Café |
| Amos Lee | El Camino | Mission Bell |
| The Grateful Dead | Jack Straw | Europe '72 |
| Rusted Root | Send Me on My Way | When I Woke |
| Cold War Kids | Louder Than Ever | Mine Is Yours |
| Tanita Tikaram | Twist in My Sobriety | Ancient Heart |
| The Greenhornes | Saying Goodbye | **** |
| Matthew Sweet | Divine Intervention | Girlfriend |
| Old 97's | Champaign Illinois | Grand Theatre Vol. 1 |
| James McMurtry | Peter Pan | It Had to Happen |
| Lykke Li | Get Some | Get Some |
| Minus the Bear | My Time | Recorded Live for the World Cafe |
| Fitz & The Tantrums | Moneygrabber | Picking Up the Pieces |
| Robert Palmer | Night People | Double Fun |
| Jessica Lea Mayfield | Our Hearts Are Wrong | Tell Me |
| Dan Auerbach | Heartbroken, In Disrepair | Keep It Hid |
| Citizen Cope | Healing Hands | The Rainwater LP |
| The Rolling Stones | Faraway Eyes | Some Girls |