As hinted at by Slug during this winter’s Welcome to Minnesota tour, Atmosphere will release their new album Southsiders via Rhymesayers on May 6. Anyone who follows @atmosphere on Twitter knows that Slug has been using the #Southsiders hashtag for a while now to talk about his life in south Minneapolis. The album was recorded…

Happy Friday! It’s been another trying week for us here in Minnesota, with questionable road conditions and subzero temperatures forcing us indoors again. Before you get too stir-crazy, check out the latest batch of videos to arise in the Minnesota scene—including one band who embraced the frigid weather and turned it into something quite beautiful.…

Haley Bonar is no stranger to local and national attention, having consistently earned praise for her solo and collaborative releases over the past several years. Buzz seems to be hitting new highs, though, for her long-awaited forthcoming album Last War, to be released May 20 on Graveface Records. Today, she stopped by the Current’s studio to…

This week’s Current Presents: The Best-Selling Minnesota Artists of All Time was the culmination of quite a bit of research, and unsurprisingly I wasn’t able to fit all of my findings into the one-hour program. As I wrap up this project and prepare to move on to something else, I wanted to type up a…

With its disco guitar riffs, electro beats, and unmistakable vocal hooks, “Funkytown” might be the most instantly recognizable song to come out of Minnesota. And it’s also one of the most successful—all told, the song has sold over 2 million copies worldwide and earned a platinum status here in the U.S., coming in second to…

Lovely Dark: Into the Roil Psychedelic, layered, and theatrical, Lovely Dark’s upcoming full-length Into the Roil, out March 1, sounds like a walk through a fairytale forest, where the Decemberists meet The Doors meet Fleetwood Mac. The six-piece band’s meticulous and innovative blend includes organic strings, accordion wails, and roaring, distorted electric guitar, all dancing under…

As part of this week’s Current Presents special on the Best-Selling Minnesota Artists of All Time, I had the chance to talk to songwriter Dan Wilson about his single “Closing Time”—whose success propelled Semisonic’s Feeling Strangely Fine to platinum status—and his thoughts on the music industry at large. In addition to his work in Semisonic…

I made a Ray Charles playlist in the middle of the night. It was two in the morning when I turned out the lights and hit play. Shortly after “Busted,” as “Mess Around” descended down its eighth note cartoon stairway, I began to see pictures in mind. I pieced together a piano man from performances…

“It’s so good to be here in Minneapolis,” Jeremy Messersmith said near the beginning of his second sold-out night at First Avenue. It’s a line that’s been punted off that stage by artists from around the world, and it was the first of many signs throughout the night that Messersmith has advanced past the status…

Now in its fifth year, Winona’s Mid West Music Fest will once again call on talent from throughout the state to fill 13 different venues throughout the city. This year’s MWMF is taking place April 24-26, and will culminate in headlining performance by Minneapolis’s Lizzo, Caroline Smith, and the 4onthefloor and Duluth’s Charlie Parr. Other…