Jeremy Messersmith says he’s simplifying his life and freeing himself from distractions — including Facebook. While his public page remains active, he’s deactivated his personal account. (Public pages can be managed by multiple users, including, for example, a manager or publicist.) So far, he writes in a note posted to his website, he has no…

Lizzo, “Lift Every Voice and Sing/Good As Hell” We couldn’t have asked for anything better than this. Lizzo responds to Tuesday’s presidential election with a mighty dose of catharsis. Step Rockets, “Chances” Step Rockets release a kaleidoscopic video by Pat Garrahy, who shares, “The imagery in the video is most definitely meant to represent a psychedelic experience…

Happy Larry Long Day! Yes, today has officially been declared Larry Long Day in the cities of both Minneapolis and St. Paul. Who’s Larry Long? As municipal honorees go, he’s not quite the household name Prince or Janet Jackson is. Nonetheless, the honor is well-deserved: the Iowa native, who now lives in Minneapolis, is a local…

“Check it out,” Sean McManus said from the Entry stage — and normally, there’d be nothing special about that. But this phrase had a particular ring to it. When McManus said “out,” the word sounded more flat than the typical Midwest pronunciation. Along with a few of his colleagues and half of the night’s bands, he hails from…

Dance parties are returning to Paisley Park. So are movies and recording sessions (in a sense) — and an experience not commonly associated with Paisley Park in the past, brunch. Prince’s studio, now open permanently as a museum, has announced that new “themed fan experience packages” will be available starting Dec. 1. “Paisley Park After…

Recently, I had a chance to meet up and chat with Jesus — before his pilgrimage to Canada — over a cup of coffee at a favorite stop in downtown Winona. This was one of my first encounters with Nick Elstad, founder and frontman of Sleeping Jesus, the sunny indie band who will perform tonight at…

Pop music icons Ronnie Spector and Darlene Love will be coming to the Twin Cities this month, both performing Christmas shows within days of each other. Spector and Love are widely known for their vocal work in the 1960s both as members of successful girl-groups and as back-up vocalists. Both have worked closely with producer Phil…

The surprise victory of Republican candidate Donald Trump in the U.S. Presidential election is all the world was able to talk about on Wednesday — musicians included. Many prominent musicians favored Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, and reactions from those artists were swift, sad, and angry. Lady Gaga stood in protest outside Trump Tower in the early morning hours, holding a…

ZULUZULUU have been named the top up-and-coming Minnesota band, as chosen by voters in the annual City Pages Picked to Click poll. With 108 points in the poll of local music insiders, the adventurous band whose music ranges from hip-hop to Afrobeat came in a clear first, with runners-up Tony Peachka landing 77 points. The win…

The local council’s signed off — now all organizers need is about $120,000 in donations to build a statue of David Bowie in his Ziggy Stardust persona. The statue would be built north of London in Aylesbury’s Market Square, a location Bowie referenced in the opening lines of the song “Five Years.” As Pitchfork notes,…