Cloud Cult - News

June: Spin Magazine: Cloud Cult featured as up and coming band.

5/23: Denver Post: "Cloud Cult is one of the best live bands in the game. Their music is absolutely essential, and their last two releases have been in the Top 10s of each of the years they were released. (So far, at least, as “Feel Good Ghosts” is already in the Top 5 of 2008 to date.) Songs that give you goosebumps, and shows that make you happy to be alive and breathing air and listening to music that is played with the same kind of passion that it was written with..." read more

5/16 - LA Times: "Cloud Cult has a message to convey about the persistence of hope and faith in a world wracked with pain. It's a message that's relentlessly positive and one that has sparked rabid loyalty among the band's growing legion of fans..." read more

4/18 - Cloud Cult's Craig Minowa interviewed on National Public Radio's Studio 360

4/16 - Rolling Stone features Cloud Cult as "Breaking Artist" and highlights Cloud Cult's new video "Everybody Here is a Cloud" Watch and read: "The instrumental arsenal of the Arcade Fire mixed with the gentle electronic throb of the Postal Service..."

4/11 - Cloud Cult on National Public Radio's "All Songs Considered" Listen here

4/10 - Associated Press/ MSNBC does feature story on Cloud Cult and Earthology records including photoshoot at the farm.

3/24 - AOL -Spinner "Cloud Cult's new record, 'Feel-Good Ghosts (Tea-Partying Through Tornadoes),' continues Minowa's use of music as catharsis while staying faithful to his environmental conscience..." read more

2/22 - Pitchfork releases forecast single from Cloud Cult's coming album "Feel Good Ghosts"-- "Rising out of a twinkling orchestral introduction to a stomping, overdub-laden chant, with distorted guitars bobbing to the surface. It's as much ritual as art..." Listen to the single and read more

2/15 - LA Times lists Cloud Cult as one of three up-and-coming bands you won't hear about at the Grammys and reviews Cloud Cult's coming album "Feel Good Ghosts": "The new album is a small existential gem in the rough terrain between whimsy and pathos, populated by ghosts and angels. Minowa speaks for Everyman throughout, a wounded beast comforted by cellos, violins and the suitably distorted guitar. ..." read more

2007

12/30 - National Public Radio: Cloud Cult is one of the "13 Greatest Musical Discoveries of 2007"

12/29 - The Onion ranks Cloud Cult's "Meaning of 8" as "Best Album of 2007"

12/20 - St. Paul Pioneer Press ranks Cloud Cult's "Meaning of 8" as "Best Album of 2007"

8/2 - Seattle Sound Magazine feature: "Pearl Jam and Cloud Cult are shifting the way bands do business, one green idea at a time..." read more

7/25 - 4 page Metro Magazine article and video: "A bittersweet new album turns a local band into a national hit..." read more

7/19 - Cloud Cult in Billboard Magazine

7/5 - Cloud Cult in feature story of CMJ magazine

7/1 - Video - AOL Spinner interviews Cloud Cult and films performance in Los Angeles

6/26 - Daily Grist ranks Cloud Cult as one of the top 15 green bands in the U.S., along with Pearl Jam and Willie Nelson

6/19 - Cloud Cult is lead feature story on Yahoo News today

5/18 - Denver Post reviews Cloud Cult show at Larimer Lounge: "Want proof that Cloud Cult's "The Meaning of 8" is one of the most important records of the year - or even decade? Go see the Minneapolis band live..." read more

5/11 - Cloud Cult on MTV (see the Minowa farm, Earthology Records and live footage from Cloud Cult's recent NYC show and an interview with the band on MTV)

5/3 - SanFrancisco Weekly: "The Meaning of 8, is a joyous affair, marrying '90s indie rock guitar jangle with quirky Unicorns-style electro-pop..." read more

5/2 - Marie Claire magazine features Cloud Cult: "Transcendent one minute and inferno-y the next, this is sure to be one of the most philosophical, sumptuous and beautiful CDs you'll hear all year..." read more

5/1 - LA Times says Cloud Cult is Critic's Choice: "Cloud Cult inspires fanatical devotion. "The Meaning of 8," their latest release, is an album deserving of loud, boisterous cheers..." read more

4/29 - Arizona Daily Star chooses Cloud Cult as Critic's Pick

4/28 - Tucson Weekly chooses Cloud Cult show as a "must see" show

4/25 - Lost at Sea magazine reviews "The Meaning of 8" and gives the album a 9 out of 10

4/20 - Time Out Chicago chooses Cloud Cult show as Critic's Pick and inteviews Craig Minowa.

4/17 - New York Times reviews Cloud Cult's live show at Mercury Lounge: "His lyrics described a comingling of essences. He made chemistry sound like a mystical act..." read more

4/13 - New York Times features Cloud Cult as "Breaking Out" band: "A sprawling kaleidoscopic invocation of the life force with songs that veer from jubilation to simmering prayerful meditation. He sounds as enchanted by the natural world as he is dedicated to protecting it...." read more

4/12 - Time Out New York chooses Cloud Cult show as Critic's Pick

4/10 - Boston Globe chooses Cloud Cult show as Critic's Pick

4/3 - HowWasTheShow.com reviewsCloud Cult's CD Release show: "As their time on stage came to an end, I could almost see a glow materializing from the crowd. I imagine all of these people left the venue happy and content—and maybe a bit inspired to go home and create some artwork of their own..." read more

4/2 - Pitchfork reviews Meaning of 8: "Excess has always been part of Minowa's unique brilliance, and this album is still overstuffed with enough concepts, instrumentation, and emotional climaxes for cathartic collectives like the Arcade Fire or Danielson..." read more

4/1 - Spin Magazine ranks Cloud Cult's "Chemicals Collide" video as one of the best downloads of the month.

3/31 - Minneapolis Star and Tribune does feature story on Cloud Cult

3/30 - American Songwriter Magazine reviews Meaning of 8: "Spectral and joyous melodies. The album is an unyielding force; it reveals a foundation of ingenuity in Minowa’s songwriting..." read more

3/29 - Amplifier Magazine reviews Meaning of 8: "Minowa uses facts and figures to get to the spiritual heart of the things that matter most. It all adds up to something timeless..." read more

3/28 - Ground Control Magazine does feature review and interview with Craig Minowa: "If there’s a need for feeling and authenticity, The Meaning of 8 is brewing with it. Beyond the sincerity oozing out of each and every song, on one track you can hear a pen drop, another you can hear a cell phone ring, and on “Pretty Voice,” you can hear Minowa clear his throat. It’s genuine and has character, but at the same time is flawless in so many ways..." read more

3/19 - American Songwriter Magazine: Review of "Meaning of 8": "You’ll be head over heels, eight times over..." read more

3/17 - Cloud Cult performs live on WOXY at SXSW in Austin. Listen to the recording here

3/6 - Lines Through Lines: "I'm pretty sure if these songs weren't tied to the ground, they might just fly off into the trees like wishing dandelions do..." read more

2006

10/31 - Village Voice: Says Cloud Cult is one of CMJ Music Marathon's Highlights

10/30 - New York Times ranks Cloud Cult's Mercury Lounge show as the best pick for CMJ Friday night.

10/29 - Pittsburgh City Paper previews Cloud Cult show

10/28 - Bostonist features Cloud Cult as "Music Pick of the Week"

10/27 - Philadelphia Metro features Cloud Cult

10/26 - Pitchfork Media covers Cloud Cult's coming "The Meaning of 8" album and East Coast tour

10/25 - Seattle's KEXP posts podcast of Cloud Cult studio performance and extensive interview with Craig Minowa about environmentalism

10/21 - Washington Post covers Cloud Cult show as a "Can't Miss" event.

10/18 - Minneapolis Star and Tribune covers Cloud Sult's environmental work

10/10 - Sustainable Style Magazine interviews Craig Minowa on the environment and the music industry. Read it here

10/5 - MN Daily discusses influence of Cloud Cult's "Man Jumped out the Window" song in University art showing.

9/28 - St.Paul Pioneer Press covers Cloud Cult show. Read it here

9/21 - Glide Magazine reviews Cloud Cult's Seattle show: "This is one of the most engaging, committed acts to come onto the national scene in recent memory ..." read more

9/21 - Cloud Cult interviewed on KVSC and convered in the St. Cloud Univeristy Chronicle

9/15 - The Capital Times ranks Cloud Cult's Madison show as an Editors Pick for the weekend: "Even if they all showed up in Hummers, the band's offbeat and engaging rock would be worth catching..." read more

9/13 - The Badger Herald covers Cloud Cult's Madison show: "The indie rock outfit Cloud Cult lives on the scene as a breath of fresh air. The band, a favorite among college students nationwide, has chiseled a spot on student-run radio stations, often eking out veteran musicians for top spots. The group’s combination of passion for the environment and undeniable talent have rocketed it to the top of charts and the forefront of iPod playlists...." read more

9/9 - Omaha World Herald ranks Cloud Cult show as the day's "Best Bet"

9/7 - Santa Fe Reporter chooses Cloud Cult show as Editor Pick of the Week: "Advice from the Happy Hippopotamus is a work of "atmospherock," a piece of Arcade Fire-like insanity-pop..." read more

9/7 - Santa Fe Alibi interviews Cloud Cult's Craig Minowa

9/4 - L.A. Times covers Cloud Cult: "The lead singer, Craig Minowa, is a staunch environmentalist who insists on producing environmentally friendly packaging and working in a recording studio heated and cooled by geothermal energy..."

9/2 - Lost at Sea reviews Cloud Cult Tucson show: "Cloud Cult sound great on record, and like Headlights, are even better live. Hopefully they’ll be back to this little southwest enclave and the packed joint will be hopping to the eclectic energy of Cloud Cult.... " readmore

9/2 - Seattle Post Intelligencer covers Cloud Cult show: "Cloud Cult is an ethereal, introspective pop band from Minnesota that strikes a personal chord with listeners..."

9/1 - San Francisco Station Features Cloud Cult

8/31 - San Francisco Onion covers Cloud Cult

8/31 - Missoula Independent Features Cloud Cult Show

8/31 - Seattle Stranger covers Cloud Cult show: "Cloud Cult's music - a lush, melodically complex acoustic-electric mix that's equal parts Modest Mouse and Flaming Lips - is so solid..."

8/31 - Tucson Weekly reviews Cloud Cult: "There music is as thoughtful and reflective as the band is responsible..." read more

8/30 - Oregonian: Cloud Cult show is "Editor's Choice" for the week

8/29 - Portland Mercury recommends Cloud Cult show as one of the best of the week, calling it "a positive life-chainging experience." See poster of the show here

8/17 - Pitchfork reports Cloud Cult as one of the first confirmed bands for CMJ 2006 Musicfest.

7/27 - Paper Magazine prints a journal of Cloud Cult touring stories, written by Craig Minowa

7/11 - E-Magazine: "It’s a cold and rainy spring day, and Craig Minowa is stomping around in his bare feet. Beside him, his band Cloud Cult roars through some old and new favorites for a small but dedicated crowd of Connecticut college students.Two wet concertgoers discuss Minowa’s lack of shoes: “He’s a farmer,” one explains to the other..." read more

7/1 - Plenty Magazine discusses Cloud Cult as part of the "Green Invasion" of environmentally friendly practices in the entertainment industry.

6/18 - Toronto Star covers Cloud Cult: "Often mentioned in the same breath as fellow Minnesotans Paul Westerberg and Prince..."

5/14 - SanFrancisco Bay Guardian: "Cult leader Craig Minowa suffered the loss of his two-year-old son in 2002 and has since used the tragedy to become an obsessively prolific writer and eco-activist..."

5/12 - Willamette Weekly: "Talk about a great band. Not just musically (which they definitely are), but good people, too. Cloud Cult's music is as astounding as its politics. CC makes bright, euphoric pop comparable to that of respectable indie rockers like Arcade Fire or Modest Mouse. If this music doesn't warm your soul, you're dead inside..."

5/11 - Oregonion: Cloud Cult is "Editor's Choice" for best show

5/10 - Seattle Times: Cloud Cult is "Critic's Pick" for best show of the week.

4/24 - Gothamist (NYC) : "I’m not sure why I was so surprised, considering everything these guys have ever done has far exceeded my expectations, but the mark of a great band is that they constantly raise the bar. Cloud Cult has never disappointed. Everything about this band has become monumentally huge..." read more

4/23 - Heart on a Stick: "Jesus, I don’t think I’ve ever heard a room listen so hard..." read more

4/22 - VH1.com: "Songs from Cloud Cult have been deemed good enough to receive music criticism's highest honor ..." read more

4/20 - Gothamist (NYC) : "We're a little late on the music picks this week, but we have an excuse. We've been too busy being obsessed about Cloud Cult. We like Cloud Cult more than we like Arcade Fire. There, we said it. Not that there is any reason to compare the two, we just wanted to really stress and emphasize how different, unique and, well, really effing good this band is..." read more

4/19 - Daily Refill (NYC): "There is pretty much nothing better than walking to a tiny venue in 65 degree weather in the early evening, ordering a beer, sitting on a couch and watching cloud cult play a stripped down set..." read more

4/19 - Brooklyn Vegan: "I almost shed a tear at the show the night before at Knitting Factory. I completely laughed, cried, and got multiple cases of the chills at this one..." read more

4/19 - Product Shop NYC: "Cloud Cult's songs are filled with allusions to life and death with images like the final suspended moments before a car crash or shedding your old skin to start anew. There are speculations on reincarnation as a buffalo or a bumblebee, and a story about a kid communicating via radio with his deceased grandpa. Cloud Cult's set at the Knitting Factory was amazing..." read more

4/17 - Village Voice: "This Minnesota collective travels in a solar-powered van, donates all profits to charity, and manufactures eco-friendly CDs. But none of that feel-good stuff would matter if the tunes didn’t hold up. Fortunately, Craig Minowa’s spacey, ramshackle indie rock is warm and clever, and doesn’t get bogged down by its hippie trappings. "

4/17 - AM New York: "Another indie band to watch, go see them tonight so you can say that you saw them when."

4/17 - DCist: "Why aren’t more people listening to this band? There is no excuse, people. One thing is for sure: When they return to the D.C./Arlington area, DCist will be there..." read more

4/16 - Lost In Your Box (Philadelphia): "If you're uncomfortable in the presence of too much gushing, you might want to stop reading right now. Otherwise, please excuse me as I go off the deep end raving about Sat. night's Cloud Cult show..." read more

2/9 - The Pulse (Twin Cities) ranks Cloud Cult show as "Hot Ticket" of the week: "It (Advive from the Happy Hippopotamus) reminds me a lot of Built to Spill’s There’s Nothing Wrong with Love and its wide-open, starry-eyed optimism in the face of the regular battering that life hands us. Hope seems to be in somewhat short supply these days, so you should take your uplift where you can get it..." read more

1/21 - Loose Record Magazine reviews Cloud Cult's Chicago performance: "It’s not unique to complain about the president, but it is unique for a band with a political agenda to truly believe what it says it believes: to trade exposure and money and ease for obscurity and duct-taped guitar straps and hard work; to trade safe, stale, mainstream pseudo folk-rock for an organically electronic, eclectic folk flavor that reeks of quirkiness and innovation..." read more

1/20 - Chicago Reader ranks Cloud Cult show as "Critics Choice" for the week: "If they figure out how to convert bandleader Craig Minowa's energy into electrical power, they'll take a decent size city off the grid..." read more

1/19 - Pitchforkmedia covers Cloud Cult coming Spring Tour 2006

1/18 - The Isthmus covers Cloud Cult's coming to the Orpheum Theater

1/9 - Detroit Metro Times chooses Cloud Cult's "Happy Hippo" as #2 Best CD Release of 2005: "Something for everyone who ever wishes Neil Young would arm wrestle Conor Oberst while whacked out on glue fumes..." read more

2005

12/29 - Minneapolis Star and Tribune ranks Cloud Cult's "Happy Hippo" as the #7 best album of the year.

12/29 - St. Paul Pioneer Press ranks Cloud Cult's "Happy Hippo" as the #9 best album of the year.

12/5 - How Was the Show reviews Cloud Cult's performance with Kid Dakota at the University of MN Theater: "The show was texture after texture; genre after genre; a rainbow of details and ideas interwoven..." read more

12/1 - Stylus Magazine reviews Advice from the Happy Hippo: "I prefer to think of Advice From the Happy Hippopotamus as joining a long line of wonderful, all-too-necessary, pop that's got little more on its mind than making a celebration out of the real stuff of life—loss, mortality, and decay of all kinds included—and bringing it into the sunlight to be danced upon..." read more

11/29 - Cloud Cult live on Seattle's KEXP

11/2 - Punk Planet Magazine recommends "Advice from the Happy Hippo" to its readers as one of the "best independent records": This album is a welcome surprise... This long album is epic in its sensibility and contains a complexity reminiscent of Radiohead. Minowa exhibits clever songwriting that is atypical with its structures, reminiscent of Modest Mouse, and his voice yields an earnestness akin to Conor Oberst of Bright Eyes, although with arguably better lyrics..."

8/26 - Cloud Cult singer/songwriter Craig Minowa interviewed in Los Angeles Times after succeeding in organics campaign against the USDA.

8/23 - Used Wigs Magazine reviews Cloud Cult's Happy Hippo: "I'm having a difficult time identifying exactly why I have not stopped playing this album since it arrived in my mailbox. I suppose it's because I simply "like it" for what it is... exceptional music. But after multiple spins, I've come to realize that I dig it on a deeper and more fundamental level. There's something about the product as a whole… the enviro-friendly packaging (more on that later), the curious artwork that reminds you of that one bizarre but oddly compelling book you had as a kid, the twenty three (!) tracks (most under 3 minutes, and plenty under 2 as well) that are stylistically all over the map, and the overall mood that has this sort of "meaning of life" quality to it. Don't fret, this quality comes across more like a buzzed conversation with a good friend while lying in the grass under the stars than a heavy-handed epic..." read more

8/22 - Copper Press reviews Cloud Cult's Happy Hippo: "It’s the kind of record that “they” don’t make anymore - unified, stylistically diverse, invigorating, smart and danceable all at the same time. Advice from the Happy Hippopotamus is a moving and exciting adventure from an artist we have to hear much, much, much more from..." read more

8/19 - SCTAS reviews Cloud Cult's Happy Hippo: "Advice From the Happy Hippopotamus, the sixth album from Cloud Cult, is a high-energy record that mixes violins and strumming guitar with psychedelic sounds, clips of dialogue, synthesized clicks and beats and lots of intense drumming..." read more

8/9 - Slug Magazine: "The Cloud Cult is my new musical phenomenon.This is music that someone loves to make and has put full energy into every detail of it. songs stir up your emotions; they make you feel and think. Everything fits together—not for marketing ploys, but as life put together with its pain, frustration, angst, joy and hope put to music..." read more

7/30 - Aversion.com: "Say Arcade Fire's Win Butler and Beck are the nice couple next door who decide to adopt some puppies. Say Mission of Burma and Grandaddy are the puppies. The sound you might hear coming from their house as you stroll through the neighborhood could be Cloud Cult's Advice from the Happy Hippopotamus. An almost indescribable mish-mash of sonic textures, the album is the brainchild of brilliant writer/producer/front man Craig Minowa. Minowa is one of those rare souls who has experienced some of the worst tragedies life has to offer, and seems to have come away with a compulsion to create beauty. The beauty is inevitably infused with darkness and confusion, which is what makes the resulting hope and celebration so affecting. It is a true feat to make music that give hints about the Meaning of Life without ever sounding preachy, saccharine or cloying..." read more

7/15 - Flak Magazine: " Despite the focus on the upbeat, the fury and despair remain present, below the surfaces of songs, and the conflict between the two makes for music of persuasive melody and momentum. The music is inventive, and almost unbearably emotional in spots. Advice from the Happy Hippopotamus is an honest assessment from Minowa of the contents of his heart, and his passion gives the songs real velocity. There is purpose in the music..." read more

7/11 - The Sneeze zine reviews Happy Hippo: "For the last few weeks I've been carrying around the new Cloud Cult album with me. I don't just mean in my iPod, I mean "in" me. You know that feeling of not being able to shake a really good movie? It's kinda been like that times ten..." read more

7/10 - 1340 Magazine: "Cloud Cult is quirky and intriguing in the same way Danielson, Madison Greene, or Sufjan Stevens are yet there is a certain element of bands like U2 and Radiohead to be found here as well. Some of their songs are top notch alterna-rockers that suck you in with melody (such as "What Comes at The End") and others are oddball, offbeat, "artsy" pieces that you will at the very least be intrigued by..." read more

7/5 - Left Hip Magazine interviews Cloud Cult

7/4 - Lost at Sea music magazine ranks Cloud Cult's Advice from the Happy Hippopotamus as #3 best album of 2005: "You know how there is that intrinsic timelessness to Radiohead and Nirvana albums, even the very first time you hear them? This album is like that..." read more

7/1 - Lost at Sea music magazine reviews Cloud Cult here: "We can advise Cloud Cult to be anything they want to be and absolutely believe in their unlimited potential to do it all. The list of the band’s capabilities is long and varied, able to play perfectly to their every whim. The album would be interesting enough as an observation piece, yet it is so inviting and catchy, playing with a range of art from sparkle glitter to sculpture, it would take a hard heart not to be captivated. As you are drawn into their vibrant, multicolored world - where the unpredictable is exhilarating and adventure is best shared with new friends – unsuspecting listeners will likely begin to cherish Advice from the Happy Hippopotamus in a most heartfelt way..." read more

6/23 - Seattle's Weekly (The Stranger) covers Cloud Cult: "The Minneapolis act adorns a mix of wistful and sing-from-the-rafters pop with a colorful palette of electronics that spins, whirs, and reflects like bright pinwheels across the landscape of Advice from the Happy Hippopotamus."... read more

6/22 - Salt Lake City Weekly reviews Cloud Cult's show: "Cloud Cult might be the zaniest band you’ve never heard, but they sure as hell are one of the best. Bands that truly push boundaries without being obnoxious are so rare. Hats off to Cloud Cult!"... read more

6/17 - Eugene Weekly reviews Cloud Cult's Happy Hippo: "Minowa pilfers Neil Young's "Into the Black," buzzes and screeches like Chemical Brothers and soars like Thom Yorke. He channels Isaac Brock alongside Doug Martsch and doesn't mind sounding silly when singing about the hippo..." read more

6/16 - Salt Lake Tribune is in love with Cloud Cult: "Good for the ears and air: Cloud Cult's fourth album opens with organic violins creeping in front of an increasingly loud electronic fuzz." ... read more

6/15 - San Francisco Weekly previews Cloud Cult's new album and upcoming show: "Hippopotamus may resound with daytime-TV platitudes, but it's also got the kind of easy charm that keeps the Oprahs of the world in business..." read more

6/13 - 30music.com reviews Cloud Cult's Happy Hippo: "With 20-plus tracks, there is much uncharted territory being explored making this a breakthrough record (and likely their best) for the band..." read more

6/11 - Detroit News ranks Cloud Cult show among Top10 Best Events of the week

6/9 - Time Out New York feature article for Cloud Cult concert in New York City, choosing Cloud Cult as Music "Pick of the Week"

6/5 - Ann Arbor News promotes upcoming Cloud Cult show: "One of the best up-and-coming rock bands in the U.S"...read more

6/2 - Cloud Cult's Craig Minowa quoted in Washington Post regarding organic labeling controversy

6/2 - St. Paul Pioneer Press covers Cloud Cult show: "Advice from the Happy Hippopotamus isn't, you know, hippie music. Instead, it's ambitious, weird and just the sort of thing eager indie-rock fans will devour. The band plans to tour England this fall, and, trust me, the Brits will go mad for this record..." read more

6/2 - News Tribune features Cloud Cult: "But it's that introspection and focus -- however odd it may appear to the outside world -- that makes his music and lyrics some of the most unique and tragically beautiful to come out of the state..." read more

6/1 - City Pages (Minneapolis, MN) reviews Happy Hippo: "Craig Minowa, the brains behind the local indie rock band Cloud Cult, is a crazy-genius Pied Piper of excess. He distracts you with the granola-flower trappings until you've fallen so far down the rabbit hole you don't want to ever come out. Like any successful epic, Advice from the Happy Hippopotamus is an escape from reality..." read more

6/1 - Pulse (Minneapolis, MN) interviews Cloud Cult: "They have no right to be as good as they are. I’ve met plenty of bands (mostly jam bands) who were plenty psyched about saving the world and their music was mostly bland, but Cloud Cult’s is thick, layered, listenable, resonant and—seemingly impossibly—hip..." read more

6/1 - Budgeteer (Duluth, MN) interviews Cloud Cult

5/31 - Exclaim (Toronto) reviews Cloud Cult's Happy Hippo": "Listening to this album is like floating into a musical workshop on Mars. The product is pleasant, well-crafted indie pop. A fine example of pop music prowess..." read more

5/30 - Aiding and Abetting Magazine reviews Cloud Cult's "Happy Hippo": "Cloud Cult is one weird band. A sound that can only be described as obsessive proggy pop. These songs tend to address the personal rather than the political. The sound is unique and approachable, which may explain why so many folks in so many different places like the band..." read more

5/17 - Pitchforkmedia refers to Cloud Cult as an "insane genius" and ranks Cloud Cult's new album as a "masterpiece", along with Modest Mouse's The Moon and Antarctica and Beck's Odelay.

5/12 - Harder Beat reviews Happy Hippo: "Lyrically, it is as inspirational as a stack of self-help books at your local library. At moments, you might find yourself lost in deep philosophical thought while tapping your foot. With more diversity than the United Nations cafeteria, Advice From The Happy Hippopotamus is a necessity for those with more than three activist stickers on their car..." read more

5/9 - Pop Matters (Chicago, IL) reviews Happy Hippo: "Epic in both themes and sound, Advice from the Happy Hippopotamus, quite frankly, flirts with genius..." read more

5/8 - Delusions of Adequacy (New York) reviews Happy Hippo: "A sprawling, fiercely eclectic album with a kaleidoscope of sounds and a penchant for beats and techno tricks, Advice from the Happy Hippopotamus is another testament to the messiness of Minowa’s often brilliant but always singular vision... " read more

5/6 - All Music Guide reviews Happy Hippo: "Lyrically and vocally removed from the Beck Hansen school of thought, the group evokes strains of the Polyphonic Spree and the Flaming Lips, while brainchild Craig Minowa comes down heavy in terms of topics...It puts Minowa's wide musical scope, which varies from folk to funk to punk to electronica (sometimes in the same song), on display for all comers..." read more

5/1 - Outsight (Detroit, MI): "Catch the upbeat indie rock and vocal gymnastics of Advice from the Happy Hippopotamus as Cloud Cult embarks on an eco-friendly tour starting June 7th. And scheduled for June and July. The band will counteract all pollutants created from the tour through various efforts organized by Cloud Cult front man and environmentalist, Craig Minowa..." read more

4/23 - Cloud Cult featured on the cover of Splendid Magazine: "It's even more liberating to hear a band throw caution to the heavens and audaciously present themselves in a way that sounds both vital and cathartic, leaving listeners with a euphoria that's all-too-rare in modern rock. You'll wish you could physically hug Advice From The Happy Hippopotamus..." read more

4/22 - Cloud Cult is "Editor's Pick" at Smother Music "Their music is part art rock and part Beck with a range of everything in between..." read more

4/21 Indieworkshop Webzine reviews Happy Hippo: "I like this band because they seem willing to try anything, and their experiments cohere. There's an almost-virtuosity at work. A great example of mutated pop as instant nostalgia. The more I listen to this, the more I admire what Cloud Cult has done here..." read more

4/20 - Celebrity Cafe reviews "Happy Hippo"

3/22 - Minnesota's Cloud Cult Announces Fourth CD Release (Music Industry News Network)

3/5 - Cloud Cult ranked "Best Strange Band" for 2005 (Reader Weekly). We don't really know exactly what that means, but we're appreciative, nonetheless.

2/15 - Cloud Cult's Craig Minowa speaks about a transforming environmental movement in the San Francisco Chronicle

1/24 - Pitchforkmedia Magazine reviews Cloud Cult as one of the best finds of 2004: "They Live on the Sun is a sweeping indie epic... Records this casually monumental are rare indeed."

2004

12/13 - Cloud Cult's music in the new documentary "Green Green Water". An impacting look how the hydroelectric aspects of our energy consumption are negatively impacting the Cree and Inuit. View the film trailer here (Cloud Cult's "9 Months" from "Who Killed Puck?" is in the opening background)

11/22 - Reader Weekly reviews Cloud Cult show and Lost Songs from the Lost Years: "The band Cloud Cult was too large for the Tap Room on Saturday night, Nov. 13. Too large for Duluth, or even the North Shore. They exist in some far off oasis where the sky meets space... read more

11/17 - Cloud Cult's Craig Minowa speaks about Fair Trade issues in New York Times

11/11 - City Pages "A-Lists" Cloud Cult and review of "Lost Songs..." (City Pages) "Craig Minowa must know something that all those bands fleeing the Midwest for a coastline don't. As the artistic mastermind behind the Hinckley-based group Cloud Cult, he's gotten his albums on hundreds of college radio stations, been tapped by VH1 for background music, and launched Earthology Records, allegedly the world's only nonprofit record label. Now he's releasing Lost Songs from the Lost Years, a collection of tracks he started writing as a teenager in the early '90s. While most lo-fi high school experiments deserve a shudder, young Minowa reveals a distinctive talent for acoustic songwriting. That these songs have adapted so well to his recent forays into blippy homemade loops and drum-machine beats only intensifies the allure of rural Minnesota. "

11/10 - Pulse Magazine chooses Cloud Cult as Hot Ticket event for the week and reviews "Lost Songs..." ... "Madcap environmentalist/musician Craig Minowa rarely takes a breather. His band Cloud Cult has diligently worked its way into some vaunted places (like the top 20 of the college radio charts) while sticking to its guns as a forward-thinking and completely independent operation with a strong lefty streak.With a wide-ranging acid-soaked sound, its damn near impossible to easily classify or sum up Cloud Cult’s music, but anybody who can simultaneously woo the jam-band crowd and notoriously less hippie-friendly college rock audience must be doing something right."

10/21 - Cloud Cult to perform all night festival, with Low's Alan Sparhawk, including 6 hour long ambient jam session from 2am until 8am. (MN Artists)

10/15 - Cloud Cult talks about protest music (Ripsaw Magazine)

10/8 - Cloud Cult's Craig Minowa composes soundtrack for Semblesque Dance Company (The Budgeteer)

9/23 - Cloud Cult to headline Fair Trade Festival (Business North)

9/16 - Cloud Cult nominated as "Artist of the Year" by MN Music Awards

9/9 - "Cloud Cult earned its coolness long ago with its wispy, yearning indie rock sound..." (Duluth News Tribune)

9/1 - Cloud Cult in Ode Magazine

8/15 - Cloud Cult's song "Sane as Can Be" from the album "Who Killed Puck?" on National Public Radio documentary about 9/11 attacks.

7/23 - "Aurora Borealis" rated one of the best MN albums of 2004 Minneapolis Star and Tribune

7/14 - Cloud Cult in Budgeteer News

6/4 - Cloud Cult's Mini Woodstock on Wheels Minneapolis Star and Tribune

6/4 - Cloud Cult featured in Saint Paul Pioneer Press

May - Audubon Magazine features Cloud Cult:"Green Rockers"

3/26 - Cloud Cult "Aurora Borealis Review" PopMatters (Chicago)

3/18 - Political Frustration Becomes Music for the Masses Dallas Observer

2/23 - "Musicians Rock the Environment" National Public Radio (GLRC)

1/23 - "Tragedy and Sunshine" Duluth News Tribune

1/22 - Cloud Cult Aurora Borealis album review Reader Weekly

1/13 - Aurora Borealis Review Urgent Culture (California)

1/10 - Cloud Cult featured in Wisconsin's "Volume One" Magazinee (WI)

1/8 - Cloud Cult featured in Minneapolis Star and Tribune

1/7 - Cloud Cult music feature in Pulse Magazine

2003

12/17 - City Pages ranks Cloud Cult's "They Live on the Sun" as one of the best albums to come out of the Twin Cities in 2003

12/25 - Splendid Magazine (Illinois)reviews They Live on the Sun

12/3 - Ripsaw News: Cloud Cult cover story "Achieving a Broken Dream"

11/12 - City Pages: Cloud Cult Music Feature "Total Eclipse"

11/13 - MN Daily: Cloud Cult Music Feature
"A bolt from the blue: Cloud Cult blends agony, love and wonder into music for a different world."

10/31 - 30-Music reviews Cloud Cult's "They Live on the Sun"

10/15: Cedar Cultural News covers Cloud Cult's Mini Woodstock on Wheels Show

9/5: Minnesota Public Radio piece on Cloud Cult. You can listen to the interview here or here (The Cloud Cult and Earthology piece is titled "Eco Records")