The Beautiful Ones, a memoir by Prince, will be published on Oct. 29. Unfortunately, the book was hardly begun when Prince died in April 2016. An article just published in The New Yorker, written by Prince’s literary collaborator Dan Piepenbring, reveals that the book would have been truly extraordinary — and that even the few…

Before last night I was a Brandi fan, but I was no fanatic. I have come to the light. I spent most of the time before the show surveying the landscape, assessing what kind of “crowd” we’d be dealing with tonight. I was slightly taken by surprise because it was a mix of…well…everybody. That made…

It’s MPR Day at the Minnesota State Fair, so after posting this video round-up, I’m headed to Falcon Heights for broadcasts and cookies. Host Sean McPherson will host trivia at our booth (the corner of Judson and Nelson) at 12:30 p.m., and Local Show host Andrea Swensson will introduce a Shredders set at Dan Patch…

The spirited energy of the Turf Club on a Wednesday was succinctly conveyed in one of Alex Lahey’s catchy tunes: “So what, you’re here/ Every day’s the weekend.” Complete with shouted choruses, emphatic head bobbing, and plenty of dancing, Lahey transformed an otherwise typical weekday night into an honorary weekend. The Australian singer-songwriter released her…

On Freaque‘s debut EP Decompose, Gabriel Roderick’s voice is mixed so that if you close your eyes, you might imagine that he is sitting right beside you. Say, on a porch swing just after dusk as bats swing low in the sky. You look over a wide expanse of field, and he gestures to things in…

Jon Bream at the Star Tribune has already used the obvious line, albeit a week prematurely: Elvis has left the building. Graceland Holdings’ unprecedented agreement to manage Paisley Park as a museum will come to an end this Sunday, Oct. 1, with Prince’s estate taking over. Publicly, at least, there are no hard feelings between…

With “Weird Al” Yankovic in town to perform at the Minnesota State Fair, the city of Darwin, Minnesota (pop. 350) has christened a roadway to honor the parodist who helped make their giant twine ball a nationally-known tourist attraction. In Darwin, located 60 miles west of the Twin Cities, a street that was once called…

If you ask Matt Allen, known on stage as hip-hop artist Nur-D, how he’d describe himself, he would tell you that he is “weird,” “your seventh favorite hip-hop person,” and then declare himself a “nerd.” Vocal about his love for comics, professional wrestling, video games, ’80s hair metal bands, and superheroes, Nur-D creates his music…

This week’s Friday Five revisits some of the most memorable musical moments from the Minnesota State Fair. Rap verses are thrown down on the Sky Ride, local music heroes visit the MPR booth, and a Current host teams up with one of soul’s greatest singers for a classic Fair ride. André Cymone live on The…

It’s amazing what diverse themes Minnesotans manage to fit into a single wall of the Horticulture Building each year at the Minnesota State Fair. Crop art has become one of the Fair’s most famous exhibits, as Gopher State residents pay tribute to the famous, the infamous, the ordinary, and the extraordinary in the form of…