Mark Mallman’s longest nonstop performance yet, Marathon 4, pulled into Minneapolis yesterday evening and called on a handful of Twin Cities performers to keep the music going. This time around, instead of performing from inside a local rock club, Mallman has made a 1992 GMC Vandura van his venue and has played one long, mostly…

St. Paul native Nick Mrozinski, who performs locally as soul singer-songwriter “The Feelin’,” will compete on prime-time NBC talent show The Voice this season and receive training from one of the show’s four celebrity coaches, Cee Lo Green. Mrozinski appeared on the show Monday night as part of the fourth round of blind auditions, and performed…

With just over a week left until the launch of his Welcome 2 Chicago residency, Prince is working the national media circuit today. He was a guest on talk show The View this morning (coincidentally, on the same episode that featured former Minnesota governor Jesse Ventura), chatting up Barbara Walters and the show’s other hosts…

It’s officially Funk & Soul Week in the Twin Cities, and the fine folks at Secret Stash Records have something happening nearly every day to mark the release of their hot new rarities compilation. But the funk and soul celebrations are just the tip of the iceburg in terms of local happenings; several artists have…

Purity Ring have risen so quickly in popularity that their first-ever headlining show in Minneapolis was upgraded from the 7th St. Entry to First Avenue’s Mainroom and managed to still nearly sell out. On Friday night, they played their entire catalog of songs with spectacular light-up cocoons dangling overhead and drums that flashed to their…

For the opening night of their first tour together, David Byrne and Annie Clark (who performs as St. Vincent) were quick to offer up a series of disclaimers, with Byrne saying he hoped they didn’t make too many mistakes and Clark joking, “I have my toes crossed.”  But those apologetic statements proved entirely unnecessary as…

Local music notes from the week of September 10-14

Local bands that deserve must-hear status this week

There’s something bold and even confrontational about kicking off a show with the line “I’m just as f***ed up as they say.” But Emily Haines of Metric did just that last night at the State Theater, setting the bar high for a set of honest, from-the-heart lyricism set to throttling new wave and bursting arena…

When Ben Kyle climbs the stairs to perform on the Cedar Cultural Center’s stage tonight, he’ll not only be celebrating the long-awaited release of his new album. Tonight also serves as the Twin Cities’ first introduction to Ben Kyle, the solo artist, after nearly a decade spent performing with popular alt-country band Romantica. It wasn’t…