The first time I saw Mayda performing, we were both sitting in a mildewy coffee shop basement in South Minneapolis enjoying one of Jim Walsh’s very first first Mad Ripple Hootenannies. It was a singer-songwriter showcase and most people were singing introspective folk ballads, but then here comes Mayda with a giant acoustic guitar strapped…

Freestyle battle champion, poet, MC, Rhymesayer, legend. Micheal David Larsen was Eyedea, one half of the famed hip-hop duo Eyedea & Abilities, and in 2015 we acknowledge the fifth year since the star’s passing. The pair were dubbed “local hip-hop wunderkinds…the Gene Kelly/Donald O’Connor of bohemian battle-rap” and “the most celebrated Twin Cities rap group this…

A new Rolling Stone profile of Adele contains lots of new details about the star’s life and music, but the part that’s getting most attention is her response to Damon Albarn‘s dismissal of her as “insecure,” her new album as “middle of the road.” Adele now says “it ended up being one of those ‘don’t meet your idol’ moments. And…

The Uptown VFW, on Lyndale Avenue just north of Lake Street in Minneapolis, has announced a renovation that will bring a new live music room with a capacity of 400-500 people to the venue’s street-facing side. “Floor-to-ceiling glass and an outdoor patio will front Lyndale, with lots of TVs playing sports and a full kitchen that…

There’s something so satisfyingly simple and appropriate about the title of Bully’s debut full-length, Feels Like. In just two words it captures the band’s ability to convey pain and frustration, to tap into primal urges, and to channel emotional intensity into their songs. And it hints at the longing and despair that the listener is…

Anonymous Choir: Anonymous Choir sings Leonard Cohen The Minneapolis choir that sings your favorite pop tunes is now exploring the songbook of the man who brought you “Hallelujah” and the theme song for the latest season of True Detective. Anonymous Choir released their latest set of covers, Anonymous Choir sings Leonard Cohen, on Sunday. It…

Via Twitter, Sleigh Bells have accused Demi Lovato of sampling two of their songs without permission. Specifically, Sleigh Bells are alleging that samples from their songs “Infinity Guitars” and “Riot Rhythm” are heard in Lovato’s new song “Stars.” Lovato has not yet responded to the allegation. (Pitchfork) In other alleged theft news, Taylor Swift has been sued by Jesse Braham,…

Michaelangelo Matos revisits the evolution of Prince’s revolution in a recent feature for the Pitchfork Review, spotlighting the seminal 1980 album Dirty Mind. Here are five highlights. Prince insisted on being signed to the Warner Bros. pop roster, not their R&B roster. In the segregated music world of the late ‘70s, it was very difficult to cross…

There’s something appropriately righteous about the fact that you have to cross Queen Avenue to get to Lizzo’s house—not to mention that her home is mere blocks from the schools and church basements where Prince played his first gigs with his high school band in the 1970s. The reigning Queen of Minneapolis Hip-Hop landed in…

I’ve often thought Minneapolis has been oddly reticent to publicly claim its important place in the seminal career of Janet Jackson. Any oversight along those lines was certainly remedied on Sunday night at Target Center, as Jackson’s longtime collaborators Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis joined her onstage to welcome Mayor Betsy Hodges, who officially declared it…