KISS frontman Gene Simmons has apologized after receiving a barrage of criticism—from Mötley Crüe‘s Nikki Sixx, among many others—for comments about depression that he made last month in an interview with Songfacts.com. “I don’t get along with anybody who’s a drug addict and has a dark cloud over their head and sees themselves as a victim,” Simmons…

Things have really taken off in the last several months for New Orleans rocker Benjamin Booker. He's been touring constantly, he's appeared on 'The Late Show' with David Letterman, and he just wrapped a few opening dates on Jack White's tour. He even found time to drop by The Current Studio for a session. All that, and he didn't even have an album out. Until now.

What do you want to hear to get into the relaxation mood for the weekend?

Happy Friday! We got some excellent music videos from the Minnesota hip-hop community this week in addition to a new one from a promising singer-songwriter and a Lovely Dark video filmed by teenagers for a summer videography class. Slide your headphones on and catch up with all the latest… Atmosphere Well, this is adorable. Atmosphere’s Slug and…

2015 will mark First Avenue’s 45th year hosting epic rock shows in the heart of Minneapolis. In the lead-up to this momentous anniversary, we’re telling the stories behind the local legends whose names line the venue’s famous Wall of Fame, which overlooks the titular street. Previously we featured Babes in Toyland. This time it’s Sean…

If you’re a fan of music videos, today is your day. First up is the latest posthumously released clip from Michael Jackson: “A Place With No Name,” released exclusively on Twitter, is a song about a broke-down Jeep in a remote place. The song gets a video about a Jeep that willingly stops in a remote…

Let's put together a playlist of songs that change up their tempo during the course of the song.

The Cabooze has just announced a very special addition to their 40th Anniversary Concert Series: hometown heroes the Suburbs. On Sept. 27, the Suburbs will be returning to the Cabooze stage to help celebrate four decades of the iconic West Bank venue. The Suburbs got their start in 1977 in the western suburbs of Minneapolis. In 1978, the…

Mark Mallman’s imagination is a delightful thing. Anyone who has seen him perform can attest that he is rarely content to play a straight-ahead concert, instead coming up with one scheme after another and subverting the very idea of what it means to put on a rock ‘n’ roll show. Over the years Mallman has also adopted…

For the first time this century, 80s icons Culture Club are reuniting: the complete original lineup—bassist Mikey Craig, guitarist Roy Hay, drummer Jon Moss, and of course vocalist Boy George—promise a new album next year and are playing a string of U.S. dates in November. Boy George says the band tried writing together a few years…