Bomba de Luz singer Lydia Liza will be defending a film on May 21 at the Trylon Microcinema. Which film? You won’t find out until you’re in your seat and the lights go down. In the Trylon’s “Defenders” series, each month a Minnesota public figure is picked to chose a surprise film to show and…

There are few Minnesota summer traditions as cherished as the Walker Art Center’s annual Music and Movies series, pairing live musical performances with movie screenings—all open to the public and free of charge. The Walker’s just announced this year’s lineup, under the theme Playing With Time. Each of the first three weeks (August 4, 11,…

Thursday, May 8 The Mischke Road Show: American Music Revue O’Gara’s, St. Paul 7 p.m., $10, 21+ With the launch of his new podcast just around the corner (The Mischke Road Show launches this Monday, May 12), longtime radio host, artist, musician and writer T.D. Mischke is throwing a big party and will perform some…

The challenges of being an up-and-coming artist are numerous: arranging gigs and cutting records while trying to support oneself is no easy task. Throw parenting into the mix, and you might find yourself watching an artist’s sanity slip away. Luckily for Amanda Grace, positivity goes a long way, and she’s got plenty to spare. The…

Music and beer have always paired well together, and Julianna Barwick agrees. The ambient singer-songwriter collaborated with a Delaware brewery to design a new craft beer, and now Barwick plans a release of an EP with the same name as the brew, Rosabi, out June 3 via Dead Oceans. The EP features sounds from the…

“MINNEAPOLIS PURPLE RAIN FUNKYTOWN MINNEAPOLIS!” That wouldn’t be particularly impressive stage banter from most artists, but at their sold-out First Avenue show on Tuesday night, Chromeo made clear that they have more than random access memories—to cite another retrocentric pop duo—of the Twin Cities. Lead vocalist Dave 1 (née David Macklovitch) proudly noted that Chromeo…

Atmosphere: Southsiders On their eighth studio album, out today via Rhymesayers, Slug and Ant pay homage to the Southside of Minneapolis, where the duo have made their homes and careers, name-dropping local landmarks and sprinkling the album with soundbites from around town. Slug’s always thoughtful lyrics look out as well as in, while Ant’s creative,…

Since his song “Clouds” was shared around the world in 2012, millions have been touched by the story of Zach Sobiech, the Minnesota teen who bravely channelled his battle with a cancer into music. Now, a year after his death, Sobiech’s fans and loved ones are celebrating his life and legacy in many ways, including…

Unbelievably, these guys will be celebrating their 20th anniversary next year! There are not many groups or solo artists who’ve had such a consistently successful career over that many years and are still going strong. The core duo of Slug and Ant have touched the lives of not only hip-hop fans and artists in the…

In one of the most idiosyncratic examples of the fine art and music worlds coming together, a crew of artists—including Nick Cave; Devo’s Mark Mothersbaugh; Katy Perry; Danny Elfman of Oingo Boingo; Odd Future’s Tyler, the Creator; “Weird Al” Yankovic; Stan Ridgeway of Wall of Voodoo; and Metallica’s Kirk Hammett—have contributed to pop surrealist Mark…