Trip Shakespeare’s First Two Indie Albums to Be Reissued

There was a certain period of time in Minneapolis when indie rock ruled the town -- most in part due to the start-up record label, Twin/Tone, the record store, Oar Folkjokeopus, and the live venue, Jay’s Longhorn.

Those three things combined created an environment that fostered the likes of Husker Du, the Replacements, the Suicide Commandos, Soul Asylum and several other iconic music acts (it wasn’t just all about Prince!).

One of those iconic acts, Trip Shakespeare, is finally getting much-deserved attention in the form of reissues of its first two independent releases.

In 1986, Trip Shakespeare -- then comprised of frontman Matt Wilson, drummer Elaine Harris and bassist John Munson -- self-released ‘Applehead Man,’ a 10-track album put out by the regional label, Gark (you can watch the band perform the title-track on cable access TV in the video above).

Still with Gark, the band released their follow-up, ‘Are You Shakespearienced,’ in 1988.

Both records saw re-releases by Twin/Tone’s Clean Records imprint in the late '80s -- and now, more than 20 years later, Omnivore Recordings is bringing the band and their music back to center stage.

On Dec. 16, 2014, ‘Applehead Man’ and ‘Are You Shakespearienced’ will be reissued -- and more than just special vinyl pressings (the first on translucent red wax and the second on translucent sea-foam green), the reissues will include bonus tracks, some of which feature the work of Matt’s brother (and future Semisonic frontman), Dan Wilson.

All the details for the reissues are summed up in Omnivore's trailer below:

To pre-order 'Applehead Man,' click here, and for 'Are You Shakespearienced,' click here.

'Applehead Man Track' Track List
‘Fangs’
‘Rose’
‘Stop the Winter’
‘Necklace’
‘Applehead Man’
‘Washington Bridge’
‘Pearle’
‘Fireball’
‘Highway in the Sun’
‘Beatle’

Bonus Tracks
‘Fall
‘Freedom Bird’
‘The Nail’ (Early Version)
‘Patricia’ (Early Version)
‘Maria’
‘Susannah’ (Early Version)
‘Fool of the Wicked Kind’

'Are You Shakespearienced' Track List
‘Diane’
‘The Lake’
‘Swing’
‘Two Wheeler, Four Wheeler’
‘Spirit’
‘Thief’
‘Toolmaster of Brainerd’
‘Vines’
‘Reception’

Bonus Tracks
‘Earth, By Revolving’
‘Car’
‘Black Road’
’10,000 Watt Searching Light’
‘Bachelorette’ (Early Version)
‘Look at the Lady’
‘Reception’ (Early Version)
‘Stories End’
‘Snow Days’ (Early Version)