Representative Michele Bachmann appeared on Pivot TV’s talk show TakePart Live on Monday night to clear up some misunderstandings about the Tea Party, to comment on the ISIS situation, and to address the issue of marriage equality. Also at the table with her? Rocker and legendary party animal Andrew WK, who’s serving as a co-host of…

Now that the media buzz from U2‘s surprise free album drop has died down, users who weren’t necessarily excited about the album—but found it in their music libraries anyway—are making their voices heard. Exactly how many copies of Songs of Innocence were actually downloaded is unknown, but it may be as few as 200,000. (Death and…

Bob Crewe, a writer and producer who was a force behind many hit songs—notably for Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons—died on Thursday, of a brain injury, at the age of 83. Crewe wrote or co-wrote songs including “Big Girls Don’t Cry,” “Walk Like a Man,” “Rag Doll,” “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You,” and the Labelle…

The Target Corporation’s annual meeting—in Target Center, natch—is one of the biggest private music shows in Minnesota each year; it’s up there with the annual Starkey Foundation benefit, where Garth Brooks and Miley Cyrus have shared a stage with Bill Clinton and Meat Loaf. At Wednesday’s meeting, an arena full of Target employees clad in…

The shortlist for this year’s Mercury Prize—a prestigious annual award for best album by a UK or Irish artist—includes Damon Albarn‘s Everyday Robots (read Mark Wheat’s review), Jungle‘s self-titled album (read David Safar’s review, and hear Jungle perform live in our studios), and FKA twigs‘s LP1. The winning album will be announced on Oct. 30. Vampire Weekend‘s Rostam Batmanglij…

The epic music news of the past 24 hours was the surprise release—for free—of U2‘s new album Songs of Innocence, announced at the Apple event announcing the Apple Watch and iPhone 6. Here’s more on that story, and here’s a huge story that was buried by the U2 news: Apple has discontinued the iPod Classic, the…

If your favorite band is Radiohead, the Strokes, or the Smiths, a guy from your favorite band has his second solo album coming out. Radiohead drummer Phil Selway just released “It Will End in Tears,” the first single from his upcoming second solo album Weatherhouse. Julian Casablancas of the Strokes has been playing new material from his upcoming sophomore album Tyranny (due Sept.…

You’ve heard that 3D printers are becoming more affordable—you might even have one yourself, or you might have one at work. If so, put it to good use and print your very own Daft Punk robot helmet! Here’s a how-to video, thanks to “DIY electronics” purveyors Adafruit Industries. Bruce Springsteen will make a cameo in…

Al Green and Sting will join Tom Hanks, Lily Tomlin, and dancer Patricia McBride as recipients of Kennedy Center Honors on Dec. 7. As part of the award ceremony, which will be broadcast Dec. 30 on CBS, both will perform in front of Barack and Michelle Obama. Previous musical recipients of the Kennedy Center Honors—which have…

Look at the images above: can you tell which ones represent the Walt Disney Company and which ones represent a world-famous EDM artist? Disney is concerned that not everyone might grasp the distinction, and it’s trying to block Deadmau5 from trademarking his “mau5head” logo in a way that will allow it to be applied to consumer…