Chris Koza: In Real Time Rouge Valley’s Chris Koza has a new album. In Real Time reaches into the past trying to grasp onto something human. On the track “Radio Wave,” for example Koza’s struggle to accept technology’s grasp on the world makes for a compelling theme over rhythmic instrumentation that captures the feeling of…

For the third time in four years, Kenny Chesney will be making an appearance at Target Field. The 13-time chart-topping country singer’s “Big Revival Tour” will merge with Jason Aldean’s “Burn it Down Tour,” with a Target Field show on Saturday, July 18, 2015. Ticket info and complete artist lineup will be announced at a later…

One of my earliest memories is so vivid that I can close my eyes right now and picture it: I’m sitting on the brown shag carpet-covered steps that led down into the living room of my childhood home and wiping dried tears from the corners of my eyes while my dad plays the song “You…

As digital download sales plummet—along with sales of physical music formats, excluding vinyl—Apple is focusing on streaming as the future of its music services. According to the Wall Street Journal, Apple will re-launch Beats Music (which it now owns) next year as a part of iTunes rather than a standalone service. On the one-year anniversary…

The first time I ever heard Caroline Smith, I found myself with a friend and a cup of jasmine tea on a Thursday night in a Northfield venue unknown to many. The Chapel is a cozy upstairs venue that hosts music and art events at 310 1/2 Division Street, run by Michael Morris. Longtime local…

This morning I biked through my home town listening to pop idol Taylor Swift’s new album, and of course I was thinking of 1989. 1989 is the album’s title, and it’s the year Swift was born. As Jon Caramanica notes in the New York Times, the album also sonically harks back to an era before hip-hop and…

As bassist for Cream, Jack Bruce was part of the group—along with guitarist Eric Clapton and drummer Ginger Baker—who helped to define the concept of a “power trio.” On Saturday morning, Bruce’s family confirmed that the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee had died, at his home in Suffolk, at the age of 71. A cause of death…

This week on the Lizzo Five Friday Five, we have not just one but THREE new offerings from the Twin Cities’ busiest bee, Lizzo, plus a pair of heart-rending new offerings from singer-songwriters living near and far, one of the most delightfully strange public television clips you’ll ever see, and a video from an exciting new group that’s playing…

Adi Yeshaya, arranger for the Minnesota group STRINGenius, worked hard to create an arrangement to complement “WAY BACK HOME,” a track on Prince’s new album ART OFFICIAL AGE. At Prince’s request, Yeshaya and STRINGenius wrote and recorded a string track designed to accompany the track, then sent it in to Paisley Park. The album came out, and…

Taking a break from his anti-War-on-Drugs campaign, Mark Kozelek (Sun Kil Moon) is readying a holiday album: Sings Christmas Carols will be released on Nov. 4. Pitchfork has premiered Kozelek’s cover of Vince Guraldi‘s “Christmas Time is Here,” famously featured in A Charlie Brown Christmas. Towards the end of the track, Kozelek recites a few lines of Charlie Brown’s dialogue…