The Christmas lights on the hedge surrounding Bob Dylan‘s house in Malibu have been documented since 2008 — and analyzed, in increasingly absurd detail — by his neighbor, writer Merrill Markoe. This year, Markoe reports that after several years of using the same “weather-worn” lights, Dylan has celebrated this year’s holiday season with a brand-new set of Christmas…

Happy holidays! ‘Tis the season for festive tunes, from silly to serious. Once again this year, we’ll be celebrating Minnesota-made holiday music with special programming on our Local Current stream. Tune in our Local Current stream of Minnesota music on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Andrea and I will co-host a jumbo-sized six-hour selection of holiday music…

Duluth mayor Don Ness has been called “the most popular mayor in America” (or “the Hipster King of the Zenith City”) — and with good reason, as his approval ratings among his constituents are sky-high. Still, Ness has decided to step away from City Hall to pursue other projects. His last day in office will…

Two shows at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul will inaugurate Adele’s North American tour behind her massive hit album 25. The shows will take place on July 5 and 6, with tickets on sale this Thursday — Dec. 17 — at 10:00 a.m. Ticket prices for the St. Paul shows will be $39.95 – $149.50.…

When Prince titled his last album Hit N Run: Phase One, fans were left wondering if and when Phase Two would arrive. The answer turned out to be: on Saturday, exclusively on Tidal. Hit N Run: Phase Two contains a dozen tracks, beginning with the topical song “Baltimore.” The album contains three other previously released tracks, a few songs that have…

Happy Friday! It’s time to take a break, slip on your headphones, and float away on some new local tunes. In this week’s roundup, we see John Mark Nelson face a giant sparkly squid, Greg Grease take us on a walking tour of Minneapolis, Battlerat do some river calisthenics, Sam Cassidy take a long stroll, and Cloud…

If it seems like the Record Show that’s held at the Uptown VFW has been happening forever, that’s because it’s been hosted there every other month like clockwork for the past 24 years. And now, after almost a quarter century of riding the roller coaster of vinyl’s popularity down to its lowest point and back up…

Last night, Lizzo appeared with her full band, dancers, and (!) video screen to perform “Ain’t I,” a track from her new album Big GRRRL Small World. The album is out today, and Lizzo appears at First Avenue tonight with GRRRL PRTY. Andrea Swensson recently talked with Lizzo about what’s turned into a remarkable journey — musically…

In a new CollegeHumor video, Saturday Night Live‘s Jay Pharoah is joined by First Lady Michelle Obama in a rap number called “Go to College.” The song espouses…well, yeah, you get the idea. (Rolling Stone) Adele won British Artist of the year at the BBC Music Awards. No surprise there, nor in the category of Best International Artist,…

As the world waits eagerly for Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens to be released on Dec. 18, TCMediaNow is presenting A Star Wars Celebration at the Parkway Theater. The 90-minute program features vintage television footage from Twin Cities airwaves, promoting the original Star Wars trilogy. In addition to cast interviews and merchandise commercials, the event will feature…