Lorde has become the latest running gag on South Park, which has it that she’s the alter ego of Randy Marsh, the father of South Park character Stan. Lorde is amused by the gag, and told New Zealand’s TV3 news that “We actually, in my hotel room, went ‘Ya ya ya ya ya I’m Lorde! Ya ya ya!’…

“This is the beginning of the long goodbye,” Roger Daltrey said as the Who announced a world tour behind their Who Hits 50! anniversary set. The tour will stop at Target Center in Minneapolis on Oct. 10, 2015. (Billboard) Another farewell: Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young will never tour again, says Neil Young…”but I love those guys.” Not that…

“Don a henley and take it easy,” recommended the Duluth Trading Co. in a recent e-mail advertisement touting its henley shirts. Maybe Don Henley hears a lot of henley jokes, because he was not amused by this one: he’s suing the company for “damages and other appropriate relief.” He’s also demanding the company stop making…

Local indie label Amphetamine Reptile Records started in a hand grenade crate under a United States Marine’s bunk almost 30 years ago, then went on to achieve national notoriety. It is now the subject of a new documentary film coming to town. The screening will mark the local debut of a documentary that’s been winning…

I hope you like electro-pop, downtempo, and dark R&B, because I have a whole bunch of slow, sexy songs stacked up in this week’s Friday Five. Which might be a good indicator of where the Twin Cities scene is at these days: hovering in those spaces between hip-hop, futuristic electronica and old-school soul, casting around…

Spooky Black has been this year’s premier mystery man of the local music scene. Winning national buzz for his dream-hop sound and viral “Without You” video, the St. Paul teen is now represented by the prestigious Windish Agency for booking—yet without releasing a proper album or even playing a single show. Audiences across America will…

For a testament to the enduring importance of the beloved R&B and funk band Willie and the Bumblebees, look no further than the introduction to their appearance on a local television station back in 1982: “My next guests have been part of the Twin Cities music scene almost as long as there’s been a Twin Cities…

At Japan’s Mirikan National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation, Damon Albarn recently played “Everyday Robots” and Blur‘s “Strange News From Another Star” for an audience that included two robots—one of whom eerily resembles a human being. “When I was invited to sing for an android,” said Albarn in an interview for an associated video, “it’s a not…

Yesterday, Bridesmaids director Paul Feig confirmed that he’s slated to direct Ghostbusters 3. Feig’s involvement represents a rethinking of the long-planned sequel, with director Ivan Reitman (who helmed the first two installments) and screenwriter Dan Aykroyd stepping aside to allow the franchise to be entirely reimagined by Feig and screenwriter Katie Dippold (The Heat). Though Ghostbusters 3 is expected…

The 2015 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nominees have been named: the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Chic, Green Day, Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, Kraftwerk, the Marvellettes, N.W.A., Nine Inch Nails, Lou Reed (as a solo artist, having previously been inducted as a member of the Velvet Underground), the Smiths, the Spinners, Sting (also…